The Lost Son
by OculiImperator
Summary: Jaune Arc wished to live his own life, a life not in the shadow of the Arc Family but a life where he could make his own choices. In order to escape that shadow, he decided to become a Huntsman. What he did not realize was that while Duty and Desire may not always share the same road they often share the same destination.
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

 **Antiquity…**

The Beowolf roared in rage before it was abruptly cut off as a greatsword slammed into its head. Its bone-like mask shattering as the edge bit deep into its skull.

The creature slumped to the ground, dead, pulling his weapon out the warrior watched as a black miasma leaked out of the crevice in the creature's head.

Looking around he could see several dozen bodies of other fallen Grimm scattered around in the area, the collective dark mist leaking from their corpses polluting the air. Though with their deaths came a heartbreaking reality, at least few hundred or so soldiers lay dead or wounded from the fighting.

The soft moans and cries of those that linger at Death's gate served nothing but a reminder of what was happening throughout the lands.

The Creatures of Grimm, no one knew where they had come from but they had always existed. Speculation was rampant about their origins; some calling them twisted forms of animals possessed by spirits. While others say they were the spirits of tortured animals themselves.

He didn't know and he didn't care. They were on the move and their target seemed to be them, people or Humanity, who now struggle to fend them off despite finally banding together.

During the multiple campaigns they've been a part of both defeats and pyrrhic victories that were dotted across the land. Towns and cities that stood for years were now nothing but ruins, the old world was burning.

The armies of Humanity have suffered more than one defeat that left a lasting mark on their ability to fight. Earlier that month he had led his forces east to help a city that was under siege by the Grimm. When they had arrived, two of the three city walls had been breached and fighting was fierce in the second layer.

For the next three days the two forces crushed the sieging Grimm in brutal close quarter combat. On the fourth day, the Grimm finally broke off fleeing into the nearby forests. The city however was in ruins with thousands dead and many more wounded they had no way to defend themselves.

The City Champion, who had taken command when the Lord of the city died in combat made the choice to abandon it.

However the Champion did hold a quick feast to thank them for coming to their aid, especially when they could have simply left them to die instead of risking their own lives. He could still remember seeing the prowess of the red hair Champion fighting even now.

The warrior looked to the south where a hill separated him from the others. As he approached the top of the hill the shattered body of a Nevermore fell behind him. The ruined creature struck head first into the ground only doing more damaged to the bone mask.

However it was the multiple bolts that stuck out of it that told him how the creature was killed. From where the bolts had imbedded in the creature, a dark misty miasma leaked out of the wounds only to pool at the ground and slowly disappear in the wind.

Looking up at the sky he could see it was about midday, the sun shone brightly on them. Shaking his head, he reached the top of the hill he could see the full extent of the battle being waged in the grasslands.

Ahead of him he could see a ten thousand strong shield wall four ranks deep facing down a horde of Beowolves and Ursai numbering in the thousands at least.

Though there was a good three hundred feet between the two forces, however in between them the effects of the first wave could be seen. Hundreds of soldiers lay dead or dying with no one able to help them for breaking rank would only help the Grimm zero in on a weakness of their line.

The soldiers in the front instead braced with their scutums and their spears pointing straight out. The soldiers in the second rank had their spears pointed up and over the shoulders of their comrades with shields raised above their heads. The third and fourth ranks had their scutums over their heads with spears pointing up.

The average soldier was armed with a scutum or a shield, along with a short spear, and an arming sword. In terms of protection they wore metal Galea helms, breastplates, and greaves. Underneath they wore simple leather boots and layered cotton clothes.

Despite this the soldiers stood resolute as they faced their foes despite the wails and calls of their kinsmen filling their ears. He couldn't help but feel sorry for them though, as it was tough even on him as well to hear the cries of pain of his people and to not be able to help them.

Thirty feet back from the main line were four groups of four hundred men armed with longbows. Each group was positioned on the far right and the left with two behind the center of the lines.

The archers drew back their bows and let loose a volley. He watched as hundreds of arrows soared to the sky, following their trajectory he could see them landing amongst the mass of Grimm.

There were a number of arrows that missed their marks. However the ones that did hit only did serious damage to ones that got hit by multiple arrows; other Grimm simply ignored the odd arrow or two sticking out from their bodies.

Looking behind him he could see more soldiers moving to them either to bolster the center or cover their flanks. There had been more than one occasion of the quicker and more nimble Grimm swinging to the far sides in order to strike from behind.

"My Lord!" A voice called out and he turned to his right to see two people making their way up the hill.

The first was a short middle age woman who wore a simple breast plate with a gambeson underneath it, along with leather braces and metal greaves over shin high leather boots. At her waist was a simple arming sword and in her hand was the dark wood of her longbow.

Her brown hair was tied in a tight bun behind her head and she had a stern look on her face that gave no room for idle talk. Though he suspected that might have to do with the fact that he founded her grieving over the bodies of her two of her three children.

The third had been the youngest girl that had hidden in a barrel during the attack. She had been sent to live with her aunt until the threat of the Grimm was dealt with.

In contrast her companion was nearly six and a half feet tall and built like an ox. He also wore plate armor that covered his body from the neck down. He didn't like wearing helmets, not because he thought they were ineffective or anything but mainly because he had a hard time seeing with only one eye.

Though he was still a fine warrior, strapped to his arm was a scutum that bore the claw marks of his experience against the foe. At his waist was a flanged mace, he couldn't help but also noticed the fresh blood stains on his gauntlets.

"Ah Vernius, Maud how was your trip today?" He asked cheerfully, Vernius laughed.

"Aye it went well my Lord, some mud from the rains but nothing to worry about." Maud on the other hand didn't crack a smile.

"Sire I think we have more pressing matters at hand." Vernius sighed.

"Maud one of these days you'll have to lighten up a bit." Vernius as Maud shot him a withering glare.

"I'll only lighten up once we've put the last of these hellish creatures into the ground."

"Well that may be a little hard to do since they disappear, which is bothersome since it makes collecting trophies hard as well." Maud looked as if she was going to put her sword into his chest so the warrior stepped in.

"That's enough, Maud is right we should focus on this fight. Vernius take your soldiers and cover the flanks, I see more Beowolves in the distance trying to skirt the main group. Set fire to the long grass and trees, that should hinder their movement. Maud I want your lieutenants to split up so they can reinforce Vernius along with reinforcing the center cluster. I have command of Aulus's section and already committed them along with my own sections, with Quintus and his men in reserve along with Vargus and his men." Both nodded their expressions stern.

"Have you received any word from Aléxandros and his force?" Vernius asked he shook his head.

"The last thing I've heard was they're holding up in Alekos past the Northern Mountains, they're going to try to get free after the failure of the Northern Kingdoms in their campaign to expand south." Maud shook her head at hearing this.

"What a waste, he took more than half the army to support those people despite them staying out of half our battles in that region." The Warrior gave her a hard looked that immediately caused her to drop her eyes.

"They are still people Maud; to abandon them to the Foe would do nothing for us then shorten the list of people that fight against them." Maud scoffed but a horn blew in the distance and he turned to face the battlefield. He could see how agitated they were but the Grimm hadn't moved yet, he could see the smaller ones looking ready to leap towards their forwards lines.

"See to your soldiers, they will make their move soon now." Both of them nodded and left him standing on the hilltop.

As if on cue there was a bellow in the distance, on the far side of the field the trees seemed to shudder. He gripped the hilt of his greatsword as the trees came apart. Out from them charged three Goliaths, they made a beeline for the center of his forces.

The Grimm parted as the giants came stomping through them. There was yelling from nearby and he looked down the hill to see Maud lining up her archers for this new threat as well as directing the redeployment of their ballista's.

It was a new technology that had spread as quickly as feet could carry them to every possible army or group of people holding up. They fired five foot long tempered steel bolts that could penetrate almost a dozen plates of armor with ease.

Now Maud had several dozen of these ballistae were being set up to support the infantry. This would also be the first time they would be tested in a large scale battle as this.

"Sire!" A new voice called out and he turned to see several soldiers coming up the hill. Four of them were in rudimentary leather armor for quick movement with some protection. The other three wore full plate armor with Great Helms, at their waists were longswords; one of them also held onto a pole that flew their banner. On the opposite side of his waist was a brass horn used for signaling.

"Ah Roderick you're here, better be ready to move the battle is starting." He said addressing the lead individual, the man nodded and gestured for his comrades to stand at ease. They were his runners; it was the one of the ways for orders or requests to be received. However he had heard that some city-states in the west were using flags as a method of communicating during battle.

Ahead of him, ballista crews started yelling and he watched as two dozen bolts were fired towards the charging Goliaths. The archers let loose another volley as the Grimm surged forward; he gripped the handle of his weapon as he watched a handful of bolts missing completely.

However the rest struck their target, the lead Goliath roared in anger as several of bolts embedded in its torso. While another three struck its bone mask, two cracked off without leaving a scratch while the third struck its eye causing it to bellow in pain or rage he wasn't sure.

It didn't slow down however as more bolts were fired he watched as this time as they struck it again. It faltered slightly as bolts hit its front legs, the creature roared as it fell less than forty feet from the shield wall.

The momentum carried its body into the lines, crushing dozens of soldiers as they tried back away from it. Capitalizing on that the Grimm crawled over the fallen Goliath to get past the shield wall.

He watched as a few of the displaced soldiers were torn apart by the claws of Beowolves and Ursai. On either side of the Goliath the men still in the shield wall moved inward to counter this development. The archers behind that section immediately moving back another fifty feet before letting loose a volley of arrows at the Grimm.

A few dozen Grimm were killed by the raining arrows before they turned their attention to the shield wall. Ursai charged forward into the waiting spears but even as multiple steel heads hit them they broke apart the lines at their points of contact.

In several places the Ursai roared and swiped at the soldiers. As his soldiers tried to deal with the Ursai, the Beowolves made their move. Running into the fray they bit, clawed and rammed into the men. All along the lines the soldiers did their best to keep the Grimm away. Some were successful and others weren't as their portions of the line were shattered.

"Sire! Vernius reports contact with Beowolves and Boarbatusks." A man yelled as he came up the hill to him.

"Does he require assistance?" He snapped back the man shook his head vigorously.

"No sire but he says that he's already committing his reserves and will not be able to support the center." He swore under his breath before nodding.

"Alright tell him to keep sending regular reports; I don't want our flanks collapsing at this stage of the fight." The man nodded before running back down the hill. He turned to the others.

"Tell Quintus that he needs to commit his force now, I want the bulk of his infantry supporting the center to help plug these gaps in as soon as possible while sending a few sections to Vernius so he can use them to bolster his sections where he needs them." Two of the men nodded before running down the hill as well. Looking back at the center he could see the shield wall was beginning to collapse even more as soldiers tried to pull back and reform.

"Someone find Vargus, tell him now's the time to push." The rest of the runners took off and he looked down at the battlefield. The last Goliath had been killed at this point as well but not before it shattered another portion of his lines on the far left.

Most of the fighting now was just chaotic mass of melee. Maud had her sections backing further up to try and rain arrows down at any cluster of Grimm they could find. Scanning the battlefield he could see more infantry coming to join the fray of the center.

Looking to his far right and left he could also see the Vernius's line was holding for the most part but fighting from the center was leaking over to his men. However with the arrival of Quintus's men the added bulk of manpower served to widen the gap simply by the press of numbers.

Though the numbers wouldn't be on their side forever in this case, the Grimm were slowly winning and because of that more Grimm were no doubt attracted to the area. If they couldn't put the Grimm into retreat soon they'll lose.

He looked behind him again and could see the last set of forces he had at his disposal. Two thousand men in black plate armor armed with poleaxes and longswords at their waists marched forward. At the lead he could see a taller man in white armor with a great helm holding a double-bitted axe.

Turning to the last three soldiers with him he nodded as he lifted the greatsword up. The man with the banner slammed the end into the dirt before taking off his helm, reaching down for the horn he lifted it up to his lips and gave a deep blow.

On cue Vargus and his men approaching the hill broke into a run, dividing up into four sections. Five hundred men went to either flank while the remainder went straight into the middle.

However he didn't see them charge as he had already charged down the hill, with the other two soldiers at his back running behind him as they drew their swords. As he ran by the Maud's troops they cheered at seeing him, the ones closest dropped their bows and drew their own blades as they joined him.

The first Grimm he saw was another Beowolf; the creature had its claws in a man's chest. It pried the dead man off its claws but it didn't get any farther as his greatsword separated its arm at the elbow. Following through with the strike he spun around bringing the blade down cutting deep through the shoulder into the torso.

However this wasn't just some one on one fight, in the corner of his eye he could see another Beowolf closing on him. Sliding the blade out he swung it horizontally taking the Beowolf in the head, the blade cleaved its bone mask and head in two.

Turning around he saw an Ursa Minor biting the head off a soldier, blood erupted from his shoulders dousing him and others in the warm liquid. Not wasting any time he leapt forward yelling as he brought the greatsword down in an overhead strike.

The Grimm brought its arm up in an attempt to halt the blade but it simply cut clean through the arm and embedded itself a foot into its shoulder. However a testament to the creature's desire to see him dead, it roared as it tried to overpower him and sink its teeth in him.

At that moment a spear landed into the side of its skull. The seven inch long tempered steel point broke off in its skull and it fell over dead. He turned to give a quick nod in thanks to the soldier but look over at him he saw that he was already dead.

A second Ursa Minor was ripping his body apart with its claws. A cold fury took over him as he pulled the great sword out of the dead Grimm. Roaring in anger that seemed to give pause to everyone and everything near him he charged the creature of Darkness.

Cleaving downwards the blade edge hit the back of the creature's neck and carried through like butter. As its head fell away he was already onto the next Grimm, ramming his blade into the Beowolf's back as two soldiers fended it off.

There was a roar behind him accompanied by the sound of metal being ripped and men screaming in pain. He turned around as a large Beowolf barreled into him; he fell onto the ground with the beast's snarling face less than a foot from him.

Releasing his grip on his sword, he balled his fist and struck the Grimm. Bones and teeth shattered as his gauntlet struck it. As it reeled from the blow he stood up with his greatsword in hand and drove the blade into its chest.

The Grimm snarled again in rage despite having a sword sticking out its back. He pulled the blade up ripping through its torso and out its shoulder. As the Grimm fell to the ground he leapt once more into the fray.

* * *

 **Later…**

He pried the greatsword from the skull of the Ursa Major; around him groups of soldiers went about stabbing any Grimm that had yet to dissolve. Many more though were simply sorting the wounded from the dead which was a laborious task in finding those that still clung to life.

From those there were even fewer that would most likely survive to see the next day. The Grimm were merciless in their efforts to eliminate Humanity, there was never an attack that wasn't meant to be fatal.

"Sire." A voice called out to him and he turned to see Vargus with his helm in hand standing next to Maud. Both looked worn down and tired, blood stained both of their attires. Though the blood soaking that covered Maud blended in much more than Vargus in his white armor, which only served to reinforce the red stains more.

"Are you two alright?" They both nodded.

"We're fine, tired for sure but nothing we can't handle." Maud said as she looked towards the sky. Even Vargus looked a little uncomfortable but it was still easy for him to spot it. Though he found it vexing that they wouldn't speak up about whatever that troubled them. He turned away from them and continued to scour the land both for survivors or Grimm that were feigning death.

"Speak up; there are a number of things we need to deal with. I don't want us to be caught out in case another Grimm Horde finds us." Maud wrung her hands as she gulped before speaking.

"Sire, Vernius is dead." This brought him to a halt; he turned to the two warriors.

"How?" Vargus shook his head.

"It seems he got overwhelmed by a group of Beowolves, we found him under a pile of their decaying bodies." He nodded as he rubbed his chin with his free hand.

"So be it, arrange his body to be buried. We'll hold a quick service before we leave." Vargus bowed before leaving him and Maud alone. The woman looked to have aged another ten years as she wordlessly followed him.

"Sire, if you don't mind me asking but how can you keep going?" He looked towards her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we've lost so much already and Humanity isn't winning any decisive battles lately. I remember the battle in the red forest. We didn't win that battle, we only survived. Of the two hundred thousand soldiers that marched into the battle less than sixty thousand made it out alive and that was mostly us since you kept us back till half way through the fight." He chuckled softly.

"What's your point?" He could practically see Maud look of disbelief.

"Sire we're losing this war, in fact seeing who we stand amongst at this very moment. I dare not call it a war anymore but a fight for survival." He snorted.

"No need to be so melodramatic about this Maud. All wars are wars for survival but to address your point in why I can keep going it's because I know it's my purpose to do so." He turned to look at her.

"Did you know that when my mother found me as baby that I was in the middle of the forest on a stormy night?" She shook her head.

"It was a long time ago; she was a hunter and lived in the forest alone. One day she slips and loses conscious. Luckily for her no animal or Grimm would find her. It had gotten dark when she wakes up many hours later and starts to make her way through the forest at night. It was a difficult journey for the weather had taken a bad turn as well, with rain, lightning and wind. An hour into the trip she witnesses lightning striking rapidly over a hill. Curiosity over took her and she went to investigate. Coming over the hill she finds, well from what she says is a container that was too large and heavy for her to take with her. When she was about to abandon it, I started to cry out. It was at that moment that she decided to rescue me. Now mind you all this time wind and rain was blowing in her face at night. It would be a difficult journey even on her own despite her experience but she takes me nonetheless and by sheer force of willpower and skill she managed to get home safe with me in her arms. I used to ask her why she did that, and do you know what she told me?" Maud shook her head as he smiled remembering those nights.

"She told me that it was the right thing to do, that she could never leave a person behind especially a young innocent baby. She would tell me that she would do it again in a heartbeat and I grew up with her telling me about things like that. That I must do what I can to help others, especially those in need because if I don't help them who would help me when I need it? Looking at what's happening to us, I can say for certain that the teaching she gave me is just as important as it would be all those years ago." He looked towards the sky; it was starting to get dark. To get caught out at night after a battle would be a dangerous thing.

"Come on, let's return back to camp."

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

As he and Maud made it back to camp they went their separate ways, Maud needed to attend to her troops. So he was left alone to wonder the camp, many people called out praise to him or bowed in respect as he walked back. He would bow to them as well out of respect for trusting their lives with him.

Though he didn't show it but he always hated the praise, most of them looked at him as if he was some sort of hero. Which he didn't want to be one but it was barely better than being looked at as a god.

He always had thought he was big for his age when he was a young lad but his mother had simply told him that it was nothing to worry about. Now as he walks amongst his people he found that even the tallest amongst them that were seven feet tall didn't even reach his ribs.

Nor was there a person amongst them that was stronger, faster, or more skilled as a warrior as him despite spending years to get where they were. He a simple son of a hunter would beat them as if they were the recruits against a seasoned warrior and not the other way around.

He could still remember those early days of the Grimm threat as if it was yesterday. The days in which he realized that he wasn't normal.

In his first fight he had cut down a pack of Beowolves that had beset a small town in which he and his mother tended to trade with. When they saw the town being destroyed his mother had ran in to bring people to safety, while she did that he had picked up two woodcutting axes and attack the creatures.

It was a tough fight and he didn't really know what he was doing nor had he ever seen a Beowolf in person before. However he defeated them all and was able to save what remained of the town. Word spread fast and an army contingent found him in order to escort him to the capital Murias.

There he had met with the King Arcas, an old but well respected man. He was the last of his line since his wife and child died a long time ago. In his grief he had taken a vow never to take another woman so he was without an heir.

Upon their meeting however he had apparently seen something in him that struck a chord in the King's heart. So over the course of the next few months Arcas had him and his mother move into the Murias. There Arcas would teach him about ruling, swordplay, forging, diplomacy, warfare and a myriad of other topics.

One day however the old King fell sick and was unable to recover from it. On his deathbed he had numerous people come in and witness him as he kneeled at bed side of the King in order to be named as the heir to the throne.

It was an event that he looked at both with pride and fear. Arcas was an honorable Lord who had the respect of his people, yet here he was, a lowly nobody, who was taking the place of that beloved man.

Thankfully Arcas's advisors were good men as well and he was able to keep up in the beginning thanks to their help. Things changed when the Grimm gathered in what a few called the last war of man, everyone was at war and alliances were being made for the Kingdoms to help each other.

However as he upgraded the equipment of his army and bolstered their numbers with new recruits, the other Kingdoms suffered defeat after defeat. Hundreds of thousands died that first season with Kingdoms falling to ruin to never again be populated.

Once a year had gone by he finally decided to set out south to help the other Kingdoms. There he had set out with an army only numbering ten thousand men fighting men while he had a few thousand stay behind. It took a month till they reached the other Kingdoms, though many were much closer to city-states now since they've lost ground to the Grimm threat.

The first group of humans he saw had formed alliance between several small Kingdoms had already numbered nearly forty thousand strong that marched against an ever growing horde of Grimm that plagued their eastern borders.

However he didn't technically join them for they had formed a council of all the Kingdom lords to decide the Army's course of action. He didn't trust them to function properly as a divided leadership would only serve to cripple them.

So instead he stated that he would help them but not be a part of them. His choice led to a lot of outrage, not only from them but in his camp as well his Lieutenants also voiced opposition to it.

Some of them stated that Arcas would have put aside his pride to stand with others in this dark time, that his pride would get them killed. All he asked for in return of their accusations was to have a little trust in him. More than a few didn't look like they wanted to but did so nonetheless.

He knew they were good men just a little misguided in their notions about this new war they faced. So when the armies finally closed in on the Grimm Horde they all prepared for battle. He had the armorers in Murias make him simple plate armor and forge a sword that was twice the size of two greatswords for him to use for the first time since that fight in the village.

On the day of the battle he had his army stand off to the north of the field and watched as the two forces met. Or at least they would have if the ones in command of the army hadn't decided to try and break their forces off at the last second to try and encircle the Grimm with merely infantry.

With their flanks being over extended in an effort to encircle the Grimm they didn't take into account the Grimm's own ability to out maneuver their formations. They were still fighting as if they were against a human opponent.

The Grimm instead trapped the overextended sides and attacked the center with their larger beasts. A part of him wanted to just take his army and leave but he remembered what he mother had always taught him. So he attacked, he quickly broke his army in two and had them attack Grimm in the rear.

Though a number of them had sensed his approaching army and turned to face them, it was too late. The battle raged for the rest of the morning but they were able to decimate the Grimm Horde.

He could still remember the sight of blood that stained his armor and blade. The metallic scent of blood mixed with men soiling themselves clogged his nose but he survived and also won the battle with minimum casualties to his army.

Though the same couldn't be said to the other Kingdoms, they had lost more than half of their army and of the leaders that didn't die the rest had fled with the other nobility. So he had his army gather theirs and asked the men to pledge themselves to him, not a single person refused.

Word spread of his success and many mocked him saying that he only stole the glory of the other leaders. Though a few small Kingdoms and city-states hailed him a hero that they should all follow and many of those would do so till their last breath.

It was also at that time that he met Aléxandros; a storm emerged a few nights after the battle just like the one his mother told him about how she found him occurred. Something called out to him so he slipped out of his own camp to follow the sensation that pulled him.

In a small clearing it was there that he found Aléxandros. The warrior was fighting a trio of red skinned monsters with black blades that glowed in the night and onyx colored horns coming from their oddly shaped heads.

Immediately he came to his rescue, fighting the creatures that were as strong, fast and skilled as him. Though he was still able to best them and that's where he made his first true friend. It was a bit strange to explain that he found the man in the woods to his other commanders but they accepted him.

Though it might have to do with the fact that he was almost as large him in golden armor and carried a large sword such as his own.

So they set forth to return home. On the way he was greeted by a mass onset of people and soldiers that were coming from their abandoned their homes for his. The population of his Kingdom exploded that year to the point that it was almost too much for them to handle financial and agriculturally.

Not only that the growth of Faunus in the Kingdom grew as well. He never had a problem with the Faunus before but it seemed that there was a portion of his population that didn't like having them around. Fights and riots broke out forcing him to come down to talk with these people.

It was long and annoying as he tried to explain why they were just as welcomed as anyone else in his Kingdom. Most people accepted his argument, as they didn't truly hate them but simply didn't know them as well fellow people. For the most part they were as well known as the Grimm to them.

Word had always spread that the Faunus were animals in their own rights and should be treated as such. Other more extreme people viewed that they were just as bad as Grimm or the ones that brought them to end Mankind in the first place.

He crushed anyone that spoke like that and made a decree that all Faunus in his Kingdom were to be treated as rightful citizens. Anyone that would disobey this would thus forfeit their land and gold to those that they wronged or serve in the army till their crime was settled.

Thankfully everything seemed to settle down after that year but word came travelling towards him of the increase of Grimm activity. Almost every Kingdom out there was allying up to end this threat once and for all.

So for the next two years he readied his people once more for a long campaign, leaving a twenty thousand strong force to defend the Kingdom while the bulk of the army went to war. He left with an army fifty thousand strong and they joined the largest Military campaign the world had known at that point.

The combine strength of all the Kingdoms was too large to count. Some estimating that it was hundreds of thousands strong while even few saying that it was over a million strong. Even he was awed by the number of soldiers he had saw when he joined the "Grand Campaign" as many called it and they set forth.

In the end though they lost, oh how badly they had been beaten. During the seven year campaign, they gave chase and were chased by the Grimm all over the lands. The final battle that saw the Grand Army shattered was at a forest of red trees.

Out of all the participants of the Grand Campaign, his people weren't as badly as affected as others. Many armies were poorly equipped though and had even worse training.

With so many dead it meant a lot of the minor Kingdoms and city-states would be next to defenseless since they had the most to lose. Then add on with the fact that word would no doubt spread about what happened it would throw those places into chaos.

They would either to be torn apart by the advancing Grimm or rebellious Lords who wished to take power.

During their initial return journey they had seen a number of villages, towns and cities turned into mass graves that no one would ever come to visit again. He wouldn't even allow scouts to be sent in as a manner of respect to the fallen, while some grumbled at the lost opportunities for looting most welcomed the chance to have a semblance of peace with death.

However he knew that he couldn't stand back as people suffered so he had changed course with his army to help those that they could but even his soldiers who were utterly loyal were getting tired of fighting without reprieve. On top of that it seemed like every other week they would get word of another defeat that led to the rout of an army or destruction of a city.

As he finally reached his tent, he opened the flap and walked in. In the center was a table strewn with maps and letters by various Lords pleading for help. He had stopped reading those a long time ago.

He couldn't answer every one of them and to pick would only send a message that he was picking and choosing who he felt he must help.

Turning to the corner of the room was another table that was placed with a bowl of water and some food on it. He stripped off his armor along with his shirt that covered his torso and arms. Reaching into the bowl he splashed himself with lukewarm water, he noticed that the water falling back into the bowl was turning it red.

He looked away and picked up a porcelain jug of ale and drained it quickly. A slight warm sensation passed down his throat but it did nothing else for him.

Turning to the other side of the tent he sat down on his cot. He couldn't really sleep though; lately he has been plagued by dreams in his sleep. Dreams of him in that some weird container with others nearby, though what always stood out to him was the person standing in the room.

He was indescribable, that was the best way to put it. There was an aura that just felt so familiar and warm but at the same time different. As if he was someone that he should know but couldn't remember.

Closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of life outside his tent he picked up a very depressing noise, the noise of the dying. With so many wound the sound of their moans filled the air around the camp that he had to set double the amount of guards in case the Grimm were attracted.

Though a part of him was grateful in knowing that by morning many of those voices would be silenced. Their wounds were too extensive for his apothecaries to deal with in their current state of supplies.

"My Lord?" He opened his eyes to see a lanky dark hair girl no older than fourteen peaking in; she was holding another jug of what he assumed was ale.

"What is it Laelia?" He asked letting out a sigh, the young girl stepped into the tent and held up the jug.

"I was just coming to see if you would require another drink, I thought after a battle like today you'd want to celebrate." He looked at her puzzled.

"Celebrate?" She nodded and smiled brightly. Internally he recoiled to see the admiration in her eyes, the folly of youth he supposed.

"Laelia what makes you think that I would want to celebrate?" She looked puzzled at the question before a smile took over her face.

"Because you won, you beat back the Grimm today my Lord." He shook his head.

"Aye we did but at what cost, little one?" She looked puzzled at why he asked that and he could see the flash of recognition in her eyes. She wasn't a dumb girl, he knew that but her opinion of him seemed to cloud her judgment of situations now and again.

"There were a lot of people killed and wounded." He nodded.

"Now I will take that jug but I won't be drinking out of it for celebratory reasons." She shook her head.

"May I speak freely my Lord?" He nodded.

"You always have my permission to speak what's on your mind Laelia, it's one of the reason that I like having you around." He could practically see the red overtaking her cheeks and chuckled.

"Well my Lord I think you shouldn't think of this battle as a bad thing. If it wasn't for your leadership we'd be dead a long time ago. So keep doing what you're doing!" She squeaked before handing him the jug and scampering out of the tent.

The addition of women into the army was something that was met with more than a few reserved feelings about it.

Some believed that it wasn't right for women being in a place that was once meant for men. Others expressed concerns about how things were going bad and if women started to be lost in the fighting the chances to continue Humanity would die with them.

He didn't care though, when he took personal command of the army and marched towards the first large scale battle he wanted as many people as possible at his disposal. Sure he had yet to put together an all women fighting unit there were more than a few exceptional women that were fighting already.

There was Maud who was given command of the archers and support sections of the army. Valentina was the second in command to Vargus's dismounted men-at-arms sections. In fact the Captain of his guard was a tough as nails paranoid woman named Titiana.

He looked down at his hands which still had traces of blood; with battles like today it was necessary to have those sorts of numbers.

The army at the start of the battle had been a little more than more than fifteen thousand strong. From what his lieutenants and their sub-commanders had told him earlier they had lost nearly three thousand soldiers along with another fourteen hundred wounded.

Of those there were less than three hundred that would probably live to see another day even less would be able to return to active duty.

Had Aléxandros, who also happened to be his second in command, been present the army would have number over forty thousand. Sadly he had sent him in response to the North Kingdoms in their campaigning to retake the Northern Forests from the Grimm.

Thus Aléxandros had taken a significant portion of the army while he led the rest home. It had been decided that he would return to the Fortress City of Murias in the Northwest. From there he planned on holding a Council meeting amongst all of his Lords, Lieutenants, and their sub-commanders to decide the faith of the Kingdom.

* * *

 **One Month Later…**

He stood on the balcony of the highest tower of Murias; the sky was grey with light snowfall starting to coat the land white. Below him he could see both of the castle's walls being manned properly with crews standing nearby the new installation of the ballistae weapons.

Past them he could see the ever growing city that expanded from the defensive walls of the castle. If they decide against his proposal today he probably would have to start funding a new wall project to protect his people.

"My Lord." A voice spoke up from behind him and he turned to face Laelia who stood in a simple blue tunic with a brown belt around her waist.

"Are they here Laelia?" She nodded.

"Lord Caius just arrived an hour ago and is already at the Great Hall." He nodded.

"Thank you Laelia, if you don't mind can you head down to the kitchens and make sure there is food this time. I don't want another ale incident." Laelia giggled at the memory of the night that the head chef Bale had forgotten to make the food ahead of time so he ended up serving a dozen barrels of ale. It was enough of a nightmare for him to try dealing with noblemen and dogmatic soldiers but it was even worse when they were drunk.

He followed Laelia as they left the room, she turned left and he went right walking towards the Great Hall. The interior of the castle was barely big enough for him to walk through, though he did have to duck often as he walked to avoid hitting his head on support columns and beams.

Soon enough he reached a large set of wooden doors, opening it he was greeted by the sight and sound of dozens of people crowding the Great Hall. Most of them were seated at the large rectangle table that was situated in the middle of the room.

There he could see a number of men and women either of noble or military background chatting as they drunk ale or wine. However upon seeing that he entered the room, the conversation stopped and everyone stood up to bow their heads in respect.

"Please my friends, sit, we have much to discuss today." He said as he walked towards the front of the long table. There sat a throne with the emblem of the Kingdom carved expertly into the back, as he sat down the other did so as well.

He also noted that five warriors in black plate armor with purple cloaks holding pollaxes were on either side of the room. They were incredibly useful while giving the user multiple options to be wielded as; they could be used as an armor piercing hammer, limb cutting axe, or a jabbing short spear.

Titiana was also behind the throne as well with her longsword in its sheath but he knew the paranoid woman had one hand on it.

At that moment Laelia appeared from a side door and held it open as multiple maids and butlers came out with trays of food or ale. He watched as everyone at the table practically drooled at the sight of food.

It was understandable most of them had been at war and food like this wasn't to be expected in the middle of the woods.

"Sire! You spoil us too much with this." A grizzled old nobleman called out further down the table, he chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.

"It's the least I can do for taking both of your sons to war with me Lord Faraday, we all know you needed them to keep your old lady off your back at home." That brought a chuckle out of the assembled group.

"Ah the old lady isn't that bad, she's just gets too tense sometimes. I swear she's gonna make me dig my own grave so I can crawl in just to sleep peacefully." Faraday chuckled.

"From what I hear she's gonna dig it for you if you can't stay awake in the bedroom." A noblewoman tittered on the other side, which brought another wave of laughter from the table.

"That's funny to hear from you Lady Ardra but I remember the last meeting that you tried getting a piece of the Lord before you passed out." A third person called out, one of Vargus's sub-commanders a man by the name of Allanson who was also representing his sickly father. Everyone laughed except for him and Lady Ardra who was beet red; he remembered that incident very well with her rather open advances in front of the others, he sighed much to the delight of the others.

"Alright now, let the Lord talk." Maud's voice cut through the laughter and everyone turned to look at him, he nodded towards Maud.

"Thank you Maud, now then you must be all wondering why I called you here. Well there's really only one big issue that will decide how the rest of this meeting will go." This drew their attention a lot more, the last time he had a big issue they joined the Grand Campaign.

"I know you must be thinking that I'm going to suggest preparing the army for another campaign around the lands to help those that we can with the Grimm threat."

"We'll follow you anywhere my lord!" A young nobleman called out further along the table, he threw him an annoyed glare for being interrupted and the young man settled back into his seat.

"What I was trying to say is I think we should leave." This brought forth the murmur of conversation at what he meant.

"Sire? What do you mean?" Another Lord seated closer to him asked.

"What I mean Karney, is that we build a fleet and sail away from here to find a new land to settle." Everyone looked shocked at this.

"But why?" Someone asked but he raised his hand to stop them.

"I understand that this sounds frightening but it's necessary. Every day the Creatures of Grimm grow stronger and stronger. Not only that the Kingdoms are falling apart and there have already been a number of rebellions for power that have grown in strength as well. Some of them will no doubt fall to the Grimm but I fear that someone is going to turn their eye on us and we might beat them back but it will attract the Grimm. When that happens we may hold out for a while but at the stage of development we're at where most of the population lays unprotected by proper defenses we'll be forced to fight on the open battlefield and we'll lose. So I want us to find a new land to settle where we can lay low for as long as possible to avoid conflict with the Grimm but also build up our strength." No one spoke a word until Aléxandros, who had been sitting to the right of him finally spoke up.

"I for one think that this is a good idea and wholly support it." He was more than seven and a half feet tall with shoulder length blond hair that was swept back and a scraggly beard. His icy blue eyes scanned everyone in the room, many of whom fidgeted under his gaze. However there were a few more people that took it in stride.

"I must disagree with you on this Lord Aléxandros; this is by far the riskiest thing I've heard in a long time." Another man said, a young black hair man with amber eyes. He was relatively new to the Lords having been originally a refugee that joined the army early on. His skill on the battlefield was remarkable enough that he had been given a title and land.

"Please elaborate Lord Perses." The man nodded him.

"Well my Lord I think that if we start to do this the Enemy will notice because of the nature of this event means us moving hundreds of thousands of citizens. The needs and logistics of such an endeavor would take a long time, maybe years if not decades of effort that we could put into the War." He nodded raising a hand to stop Perses.

"I understand that Perses but I feel that it's better in the long run. If we stay here and fight we may extend the lives of the other Kingdoms and city-states but sooner or later we'll lose on the field of battle and it'll cripple the army for a while before we gather new recruits and supplies to arm them. This would take a while to do as well." He nodded.

"I understand that my Lord but there is also the fact that we can demand tribute in form of manpower and supplies from those Kingdoms and city-states in return for us protecting them. If we take their strength and fold it into ours we'll be able to sustain ourselves longer." Aléxandros snorted.

"That leaves them just as open to attack Perses. If we start taking supplies that people can't afford to lose they'll be left to flounder and since we can't be everywhere at once that means we either let them get killed or we split up our forces to garrison them until they recover. However if we split up our forces they'll probably won't last more than a battle or two before they're completed decimated. At the same time that's already what's happening, we can't cover so much territory to protect all these people, if we try that and lose we not only get them killed but overextended the Kingdom's military arm. Then there's also the influx of refugees that we get every month. We're a target for everyone, friend or foe, so it's wise if we find some place where we can strengthen our position while not having to over extend our supplies dealing with the various threats here." One of the sub-commanders to Aulus raised their hand to be noticed, he pointed towards him.

"Speak Lord Eugen." The man bowed his head slightly.

"If I may Lord but I agree with both men on this matter, I feel it's my duty to help those in need here but I can understand that if we continue to hold our position here we'll drain ourselves in making these campaigns which would only lead the Grimm to find us here. However before I make a suggestion have we heard from those people that sailed east from that city with the Champion who threw that feast for us?" He nodded.

"You mean Colossae? I in fact have received word from them, which actually led me to this thought. They've established settlements in the land they found and have encountered other people there as well and working to build their strength up as well." Eugen nodded.

"Well my Lord may I put forth my proposal?" Eugen asked and he nodded.

"By all means." He bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you my Lord, I believe it would be best if we do both. We'll first send a small portion of the army along with volunteers to settle and make a coastal city, when they're ready for more people they'll send the ships that brought them there back to pick up more people and supplies. In that time we'll continue to prepare for such a journey by building more ships and preparing supplies for a long journey here. During that time the army can still function in helping only nearby Kingdoms and city-states but no more long campaigns that might end in disaster." He nodded.

"That sounds like an interesting idea however before we can even talk about that, I want a hand of everyone that supports this plan." He asked and saw that most of those that were present raised their hands. Though Perses didn't along with several other Lords and Commanders who he knew were close to him. He looked towards Aléxandros and nodded.

"Alright I support it as well; we can iron out the details of what we need in terms of food, materials, and manpower to complete this. I want everyone here to bring a manifest of their current material stocks, food, and weapon stores. I also want the province Lords to put together a population count, we'll want to know how many people there are so we can determine how many people we need to send in the first wave to keep the amount of trips short." The feeling that they had a solution to save their Kingdom and people was easy to read for him. Already aides were being sent running to complete his orders while others discussed military strategies for the landing forces.

He exchanged another look with Aléxandros. The man smiled briefly before excusing himself to join the other military commanders in discussing military strategies and objectives for the foreseeable future.

However the future is never set in stone. A little push here and there could create something new or destroy it as well.

* * *

 **Years Later…**

He stood before the statue of his deceased mother. She had died a long time ago but he had the finest craftsmen the Kingdom build a life like statue to honor her.

It was the last thing that had yet to be destroyed in his life. As all around him Murias burned in the hellfire of war. Though its destruction was not credit to the claws of the Grimm but at the hands of one of his own Lords that sought to drive a dagger into his Kingdom.

Thankfully they had already sent the fourth wave of ships which would lead his people to a new land had already left. It was during the fifth wave that this rebellious lord made his attack when most of the Kingdom had busied themselves with preparing to leave.

With almost a third of the standing army already sailing across the Frost Sea, the Kingdom's standing forces was already depleted. With his betrayal another third of those that remained turned on their brothers in arms.

However he and Alexander were quick in rallying the loyalists to drive them off. The initial thought was that they would try a futile siege with a force so small that had also lost the initiative with their surprise attack.

They were wrong once again as he came back with a force of red skinned monsters, or as Aléxandros had called them, Daemons.

He also recognized them from the night that he saved Aléxandros so he knew that these foes weren't to be underestimated.

Even then with him and Aléxandros leading the defense they were unable to stop them. None of the men knew how to fight creatures that were adept as or better than them in fighting. The Grimm were strong, fast, and deadly but ultimately they were beasts thus incapable of creative thought as far as they knew.

Now the fighting was raging in the castle, with untold thousands no doubt dead and many more dying by the minute, he found it strange that he felt nothing. Was it shock? To know that his hard work to honor his mother and lead these people to better lives now crumbles to ash was numbing to say at least.

"S-S-Sire." A weak voice called out and he looked around the Great Hall. Dozens of mutilated bodies littered the floor, their armored bodies showing signs of grievous wounds that gave no illusion that they would make it. He spotted Vargus in the corner his weapon broken in two and a black blade embedded in his chest.

Titiana the Captain of his guard had her body pinned on the table with both of her arms missing, a black axe separating her upper and lower body. He reached out and closed her eyes which were wide with terror, the last feeling she had before she died.

"S-Sire." The voice called out even weaker, pinpointing the sound he saw something that finally made his heart squeeze. Young Laelia was slumped in his chair at the head of the table, her grey dress stained with the blood from the wound to her gut.

"Laelia dear, shush, I won't allow you to die." He said setting his greatsword on the table and made to pick her up but she put her hand on his arm. While she had no strength to stop him even before today it halted his movement.

"It's fine; there is no need to worry about a girl such as me." She whispered staring at him with longing in her eyes.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you since I was a foolish young girl that found her way into your service." She said tears glistened at the corner of her eyes.

"Hush, you don't have to say it, I've know what it is Laelia, I've always known." She didn't say anything as she gave a weak smile he waited a moment to hear her say something but she said nothing. She wasn't breathing anymore; he reached up and closed her eyes before leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

Standing up he turned to see Aléxandros at the door with his greatsword in hand. His armor was covered in blood and there was a cut on the right side of his face that leaked blood into his eye forcing it closed.

"I'm sorry." Aléxandros said with his back turned to him, he chuckled as he picked up his greatsword.

"Don't be, you weren't the one that just watched the girl that was madly in love with you die." Aléxandros stuck his hand out placing it on his breastplate stopping him from getting past.

"I'm serious, I don't know what it's like but I know that's not something anyone should go through." He sighed and patted Aléxandros's arm.

"Thank you old friend, but we need to gather what men we have left and get to the docks. I thought I saw Valentina's men holding out at there." Aléxandros nodded and the two warriors ran down the hall.

* * *

 **40 Minutes Later…**

After navigating smoked filled hallways that were littered with the bodies of the dead, the two warriors finally managed to get out of the castle. Embers fell like snow from the sky and the night was illuminated by the raging fires that destroyed the city.

In the courtyard in front of them however they were not concerned with fires but with the blades of this enigmatic foe. Forty soldiers stood with their scutums locked together in a circle, spears sticking out like a porcupine.

However he could see that they weren't faring well as a three meter tall red creature had climbed onto a rampart and jumped into the middle. A few spears pierced and broke off in its red skin but the creature paid no heed to them as it started swinging its black blade.

Soldiers screamed and yelled in pain as each swipe of the blade was accompanied by blood splashing the cobblestone ground.

Charging with a wordless roar he leapt at the back of the nearest creature, Aléxandros calling out to him but still charging as well.

He lunged with his greatsword aiming for the small of the creature's back but it twisted out of the way in time. However he quickly followed up by twisting using the momentum to further carry the blade towards it, the pristine edge chopped through its right arm into its chest.

The creature grabbed his blade with its remaining hand in an attempt to keep him there but he simple raised a fist and punched the creatures face. Bones and teeth snapped under the impact, the force of the punch causing it to slide off his blade.

He raised it up in time to quickly turn aside a thrust of another black blade then delivering a low counter blow that took the creature's legs out from underneath it. As the creature fell to the floor roaring in anger he turned his greatsword point down and drove it into the creature's skull.

Looking up he could see Aléxandros driving his own blade through the skull of another creature. Looking towards the soldiers he could see that they had rallied when the creatures were distracted and had hacked the one amongst them to bits.

However the distraction didn't last very long as the remainder of the creatures roared before charging them. One charged with dual war axes, the creature raised them and chopped downward. Ducking beneath its reach he brought his blade over his shoulder chopping one arm off. The creature roared before kicking backwards, its cloven foot striking him in the back sending him stumbling a few steps.

Recovering quickly he brought his greatsword up in time to block a strike of a second creature before quickly kicking one of its legs. His sabaton crushed the fibula and tibia inward, causing black bone to stick out of its red skin.

Without looking he lashed backwards with his greatsword, he could feel the resistance of skin and bone as his blade cut another creature in half from the waist.

There was a roar and he saw a creature appear on his right with its blade raised over head. Turning to face it, he lunged forward with his shoulder; the creature fell back with its ribcage crushed inwards.

He turned around again to see the creature with the missing arm charged him again, swinging its weapon in its other hand. Swinging his greatsword up, he knocked it aside before twisting his wrist to bring the blade back cutting deep into its chest.

Another creature appeared on his left slashing down with its black sword. Stepping back he avoid the strike and caught the blow of the creature with his left hand as it tried to elbow him. Raising his blade he thrust it forward towards its chest but moved into his guard avoiding the blade.

As it did that it didn't see Aléxandros moving behind it swinging he blade high cutting its head off. The strength in the creature's body held out for a little while more as the severed head fell to the floor with the headless body following close behind. He looked at Aléxandros who was covered in a fresh coat of blood.

Looking around the courtyard he could see that barely twenty men were left standing. The rest lay dead with gaping wounds in their bodies that covered the floor in their blood.

"Sire! We thought you were still holding out in the Great Hall and figured we'd come to help you." A soldier called out as he shook the blood of the creatures from his sword.

"The Great Hall is no longer safe; we're moving down to the docks. There we can put those that still remain on the ships and set sail." The soldiers looked surprised to hear that.

"We're not staying?" Another man called out and he nodded.

"We cannot hold out against these creatures and it's my duty to get as many of my people to safety while I still breathe." He said but none of the men looked very happy about it. He couldn't blame them though, to lose one's home was truly a harsh thing to experience.

"That's enough, unless we want to be swarmed by more of them we need to get out of here." Aléxandros said as he stood next to him. The men nodded albeit a little reluctant, he turned towards the exit, even from there he could see the docks with dozens upon dozens of ships that were eighty meters long with twelve meter beams in the water. Each one was capable of carrying at most a little less than two hundred people and enough provisions for a two month journey.

Though he knew that the chances were there wasn't going to be enough ships for everyone. They had depended on the survival of the other ships they had sent out to continuously augment their ability to transport more people and supplies each time.

As they jogged out onto the ramparts that led to the docks he could see the carnage that was wrought on the defenders. Hundreds upon hundreds of bodies were strewn about, in some areas it was impossible to not step on piles of dead bodies.

At the far end of the pathway was Valentina's defensive line of troops. While most of her soldiers didn't have the ability to fully form a shield wall as they were her armor plated men-at-arms. There were still a sizeable number of regular soldiers that formed rudimentary vanguards that stood ahead of them forming defensive blocks.

He supposed her idea was to have them bear the brunt of the attacks and as the enemy focus on them she'd attack with her troops. He didn't like the idea because it meant using the men as bait but he supposed that she was just thinking on the fly.

"It's the Lord!" Someone yelled and he could practically feel the hope bursting alive in the defenders at seeing him. People cheered as he joined them and Valentina looked ever so relieved to see him there.

"Sire, what's the plan?" She asked hefting her longsword in both hands.

"Valentina I need two hundred volunteers." A smile split her face.

"You can as many of my men as you need to retake the castle my lord." He shook his head.

"No, I need them as a rearguard." It took a moment for her to register the words he was saying then her smile faded.

"What do you mean?" He looked towards the docked ships, there was still a few dozen still tied down to the docks while others that had filled up with as many people as they could and now sat a mile off coast.

"You and Aléxandros have to start getting as many people as you can onto those ships, I'll hold off the enemy while you do so." Aléxandros stepped forward.

"Are you sure I shouldn't do this?" He nodded.

"Yes, now hurry up." Aléxandros sighed in resignation. Turning around he saw that most of the soldiers were slowly backing away before turning to run to the ships. All that remained were the blocks of spearmen and a hundred men-at-arms.

He drew the spearmen back to form two semicircle shield formations with spears pointed out. In between the gaps of the two formations were the men-at-arms.

Standing with them he watched as there was another roar in the distance and from the Castle came more of the creatures. Looking from his left and right he could more of them coming down the docks towards them.

However there was something else there as well, in the sky above the castle where the fires raged unchecked came a new creature that settled itself on one of the ramparts of the castle. It's weight causing the stone to crack and crumble where its hoven feet touched.

It was a towering muscular beast, with a canine like face and horns that curved out from its head. It stood taller than any Goliath he had ever seen; sprouting from its back was also a pair of large leathery wings.

It wore a set of bronze plates with a large axe in its right hand and what looked to be a whip that was made from bones in its left hand.

Soon it jumped off the wall with a beat of its large wings and landed less than a hundred feet from them. As it stood at its full height dozens upon dozens of the smaller red creatures crowded to either side and seemed to wait for it.

For the first time in his life he felt a wave of fear pass over him. It wasn't a feeling that he was used to, he had seen it in his men time and time again as they went into battle but he could never relate.

Now as he stared at the winged creature he could feel a cold sweat break out on him as the creature seemed to zero in on him as well.

Glancing around he could see the men with him were nervous as well but he was also surprised to see what looked to be determination as well. Despite the fear they were no doubt experiencing every man that stood with him looked ready.

"Sire, we're with you!" A familiar voice said from behind and he saw Aléxandros moving to stand next to him. Hundreds of soldiers stomped down from the docks to join their comrades as they faced off with these creatures.

"I'm glad to see you Aléxandros." He said the shorter man snorted.

"Did you really thing I would ever leave you behind old friend." He said as they both raised their weapons. The winged creature gave an earthshaking roar before charging; the defenders gave a roar of their own and charged.

* * *

 **Seven Months Later…**

Aléxandros stood on the wooden walls of the settlement and watched the surrounding area. Thousands of people worked on building homes, setting up crops or adding and expanding the walls.

The ships of the Kingdom lay anchored off shore in the distance with smaller boats moving back and forth as they transferred the last of their supplies.

Though despite the air of comfort and happiness the people expressed at having them here, there was a noticeable undertone of despair. To know that they were the last of their people was not something they could truly grasp yet.

Sure they had abandoning their home to be here but many seemed to have the belief that one day they could return home. Maybe not in their lifetime but their children's or even their grandchildren's lifetime would that dream be fulfilled.

Now that dream lay burnt and ruined as Murias was the night they had left. They had technically won and lost that night. They had managed to defeat the Lord of Blood's servant but at great cost, of the hundreds that charged into that fight less than a hundred made it out.

Even the Son had taken a few wounds from the Blood God's servant before they were managed to kill it. With its death the Host disappeared, melted away to return to their domain. Hope had begun to grow amongst the men but he knew it was going to be short lived when a Nevermores flew over them.

The Grimm had arrived.

It was a miracle that the fleet had managed to escape; the Nevermores had immediately set forth to crippling the ships. No doubt they did so to keep them from escaping over sea. A few of the ships already manned had some of the ballista weaponry built on board.

If it wasn't for them he doubt they would have gotten away. Though once at sea the Son had gone quiet as he recovered from his wounds and he knew that he was dealing with this tragic loss.

That was not the end though as it was tough journey where a number of ships were lost to storms or the lack of supplies to fix damages. Along with the surprising ambush of a three of large serpent Grimm that destroyed several ships, most of the crew members and passengers onboard never made it out of the water.

They fled after the fleet managed to kill one and wound the second. They continued on their journey and finally made it to the colony with barely enough food and water for another few days.

He had watched as the Son gave quick orders to the few Lieutenants that either lived in the colony or came with them. Before telling Aléxandros that he was in charged until he came back.

The entire colony mourned for the loss of their home but Aléxandros immediately set about in the construction and consolidation of the surrounding territory. It was a prime fishing area with light forests and grasslands to the north and south with a mountain range in the far west.

Despite the cold temperature the ground was good enough to cultivate things such as peas, onions, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, kale, along with wheat and oat. However for the colony their main focus was on fishing which apparently was a very bountiful endeavor.

Though ice in winter was a bit of a problem as it effectively shut it the fishing but they had learned to account for that. They would use a portion of that crop yield that year along with that which was saved from the year before to make up the shortage of fish.

The biggest problem they faced was defensively. While there were enough trees to construction a sturdy wall. However that problem wasn't that in materials but the army itself.

They just didn't have enough troops to field it properly like before. Population wise the colony was a little more than forty five thousand. Though with they're early arrival the population was now over fifty thousand.

Most of those people were civilians that were brought over on the third and fourth wave. The first two waves were purely military purposes. The total strength of the garrison was a little more than ten thousand strong. With their arrival it was now twelve thousand strong, however most of the supplies they brought over was food, medicines, and civilian construction material.

This led to military logistical issues such things to wear like warmer clothes for the soldiers as their current equipment wasn't built for the cold climate. Along with that there was a shortage of materials to patch up weapons and armor that had taken a beating in the Fall of Marius. The colony had yet to start mining ore for weapons and armor so they had relied on the Kingdom to supply it until then.

Ultimately these were all issues that would take time to deal with. He sighed, his breath leaving as a white cloud that disappeared second later. Looking up at the sky he had yet to see the sun in days since they arrived here and there was light snowfall that slowly coated everything.

"When do you think he'll return?" A familiar voice asked and he turned to see Maud standing in a fur lined cloak with a scarf and leather gloves on. She looked much older now but he supposed that had much to do with the stress of trying to maintain the military force here for years while protecting against any possible Grimm attack.

"I don't know Maud; he's got a lot of things on his mind to be fair." She nodded as she stood next to him. Though it was a little comical to see such a despairing height difference between the two of them, it was like a toddler standing next to their father.

"How does it feel to be Regent in his absence?" She asked next this time he sighed.

"I don't think I'll ever be truly capable of ruling." She chuckled at that.

"You already spent a lot of time helping him decide how to run both the Kingdom and the military. Had he actually shown signs of aging we would have believed that you would be his successor." She turned to look up at him, curiosity etched on her face.

"The more I think about it the more I realize how much is different about you two. None of you have seemed to age a single day since you two been around in the picture. Nor have the effects of stress and military life seemed to have a mark on you aside from actual scars. I remember seeing young men age thirty years in a few months at war with the Grimm but for you it looks like nothing significant." Aléxandros said nothing which did nothing to sate her curiosity. She turned away again and placed her hands on the ramparts, brushing aside some snow.

"You know how our Lord hates being seen as a god?" He nodded.

"Yes, I feel the same way about it as well. Religion has done nothing for Humanity so far and with the emergence of Grimm to cling to such beliefs if anything would be more unethical than anything else that I can think of." She looked at him surprised to hear the conviction in his voice. He cursed himself mentally; he was still beholden to the beliefs of his Master on the matter. Then again considering who it was, it was easy to see why he took to it and still believes in it.

"I believe that's the first time I've ever heard you speak like that Aléxandros. If you can put your conviction into other matters like ruling, you'll do fine."

"The passionate distaste for something does not make a good ruler, just an emotional one." She sighed.

"True but the conviction to do what you believe is right and not kneel to another person's ideals is just as important. Hated and dispassion lead to the downfall of many empires my old friend, but assimilation and unity can build something that lasts a thousand years." He couldn't help but wonder if that really is true. From his experience being too far on either scale is just as bad. Sometimes objectivity is a tool that is most useful when weighing the greater good over the greater result. In the end he would just have to wait to see what the future brings him.

* * *

 **A Month Later…**

Aléxandros stood in the center of the courtyard facing the main gate of the settlement; people were congregating around at the edges to get a closer look at what was happening.

Lining the walls and the edge of the crowd were fully equipped soldiers three ranks deep that stood facing inward with a line of full plated men-at-arms holding their poleaxes in both hands.

Next to him was ten black armored guards that were supposed to be attached to the Son but he had rarely used them. Opting instead for them to serve more in a standard military capacity as elite troops or serve as protectors of the Murias.

Besides them was Valentina, Maud, and a few other of the remaining commanders and Lords that had sailed here.

Someone shouted above the gates and a murmur emerged from all sides as excited people talked to each other about seeing the Lord once more.

The gate was a heavy set wooden door four feet thick reinforced with sheets of metal. It was roughly the size of about two wagons wide and three high, it slowly opened.

Aléxandros smiled, in part at seeing the Son himself but also glad that his duties as Regent would now be over with his return.

However as he watched the tall, broad figure wrapped in a grey cloak step past the gate a feeling of unease settled over him. Something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, something he hadn't felt in years.

It was a Psyker.

This power however was younger if not a more watered down version to which he compared it too. What was really to be noted was the fact that it didn't have the sickly sweat stick that he longed associated with the Four.

That's when he saw him, an old man of average height with a grey beard and hair that was swept back. He was dressed in a worn coat that reached his knees and wrapped around him.

He walked behind the Son about dozen paces back but not because he was slow, he did it by design. In his right hand was a dark brown staff that he used to help him walk but he could tell that it was for show.

The man locked eyes with him and a shiver passed down his back. Not of fear but recognition, the Son was less than ten feet from him. A wide smile on his face but Aléxandros couldn't help but notice a new set of scars that crossed over his left eye.

"My Lord." He said as he dropped to one knee and bowed before him. The hundreds watching did so as well soldiers and civilians alike kneeled to their Lord.

"Please my friend you don't need to bow, none of you do." He said, raising his voice at the last part. One by one the people began to stand up; joy was starting to filter through the populace now.

Despite the Fall of Murias, many people were more distraught to hear that their lord had left them. Many believed that he undertook the journey as a way of self-atonement. Others believed that he had actually gone on a one man crusade to fight the Grimm and find the Traitors.

Of course those were all speculations as no one, not even him, knew why the Son left. Now with his return and this arrival of this stranger, Aléxandros felt that something else was on the horizon.

"Ah! Why the gloomy face old friend, you look like you just got married!" He said raising his voice enough that it carried across the courtyard. This drew laughter from more than a few people, which earned a lot of married men a slap to the arm.

"Him? Married, he'd chase away any woman with all his brooding." Valentina quipped earning more laughter from the assembled group save Maud who just stared ahead at the stranger.

"Sire, if you don't mind me asking but who is that man that came with you?" She said nodding towards him. He looked over his shoulder and a frown settled his face quickly before a new but much less sincere smile grew on it.

"That's a topic of conversation that I don't want to go into just yet but rest assured you may simply think of him as a Hermit of sorts." He clapped his hands.

"Anyways it's been a long time since I've been with my people; I say it's time we celebrate!" He called loudly earning a thunderous roar of approval from the gathered mass. Aléxandros couldn't help but think about how much of their reserve grain and food would have to be used if he was serious.

He gestured for them to get a move on, Valentina and Maud turned around with the honor guard to lead him towards the center of the city.

Aléxandros however stayed behind, opting instead to approach the Hermit. No one else seemed to notice him as people filtered back to their homes or shops with this news of the Lord returning.

"I see curiosity is something that tickles your mind young man if you decided to come speak with me." He couldn't help but smile a little.

"I wouldn't say that, I'm much older than I appear." The man gave a knowing smile this time.

"Oh I know and it must have been an experience to be with Him during that era, to sail the stars uniting all of the lost children under one banner." Aléxandros could feel his hands grow cold as he stepped closer to him. His towering form dwarfed the man but in the back of his mind he had a feeling that he would probably lose in a fight.

"How do you know this?" He asked softly, the man held up his free hand.

"There is much that I have been able to gleam over my lifetime, most of it was nonsensical but I recognize parts of your armor from The Ten Thousand." He felt his hand start to clench as he gave the older man a hard stare.

"What are you and what do you want with my Lord?" The old man chuckled as he stepped past him, Aléxandros watched as he gestured for him to follow.

"There is a great deal of things that I don't know about myself or how I came about these gifts. I've learned that the essence that gives me this power isn't even a fraction of a fraction that once belonged to a Being far superior than any Man, Faunus or creature as a whole. I know what lurks behind the veil of the universe. Huh, veil? What an interesting word wouldn't you agree as well dear Watcher? There's a veil over everyone's eyes that exist on this world and exists before we came here and will exist till longer after we are buried six feet under. Some will choose to look beyond it, those few I pity for it leaves them with a choice that lead down paths that can't be turned from. I guess you can call it Destiny." Aléxandros stared at the man as they walked down the snow covered streets. He's always believed that those who practice Clairvoyance were a dangerous sort. Not necessarily to the power itself but what it can do to them.

To see any possible line of time and trying to determine whether it will come true or not was a burden that few could or should carry.

"If you think anymore, you're gonna die from overworking your brain." The old man said he smirked towards him. Aléxandros felt a slight flash of annoyance at the man's flippancy.

"You're not very good at having conversation are you?"

"I wouldn't say that, I just prefer to pick and choose my words when the time calls for it." The man huffed in amusement.

"I can see that, I imagine you were a very stiff fella to talk with when you first got here. I wager you still are to be honest."

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"Nope." Aléxandros could tell it was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Aléxandros rubbed his face with one gloved hand as another roar of laughter echoed the hallway. The old man it seemed was quite good at telling stories.

The new Great Hall was much smaller than that they were used to in Murias. Though most of the Lords and Commanders that would have been there were now dead or sworn Foes.

At the head of the large rectangle table was him and the Son who took the center seat while he was his right. More than a few of the new Army Commanders had come to speak with him along with new civilian representatives.

Sure it was something that was always lacking on his own part in bonding with others but he simply didn't have a need to tell such tales. He had a duty to uphold and there isn't any time to slack on it, looking over at the Son. He could see that he was getting already acclimated to being at the head of the table and center of the party once more.

At the same time he could sense a tension that simmered under the surface of his Lord, not something that most people would notice. It was like he wanted to get up and leave right this moment specially to fight.

He could see it in the way his hands clenched into a fist to strike something or how they would if he gripped a weapon.

"Aléxandros, I know you haven't seen me in a while but no need to stare." The Son said with a half grin as he looked at him.

"I know." He nodded.

"So tell me has there been a decision on the name of this colony, I remember that there was a debate on what to call it." Aléxandros nodded.

"We decided to call it Clove." He raised an eyebrow.

"I put forth the name because once the last person made it on shore, there seemed to be a weight that settled on everyone as they realized that this was their only home left." He nodded.

"It fits, I like it." He inclined his head; the Son looked towards him again a somber look settling on his face.

"Aléxandros there's something we need to talk about." He shook his head.

"You can tell me in the morning, you're people wish to see you take command again." The Son gave a rueful smile.

"That may be the case but I gave up my right as the rightful lord the moment I left you in charge." He narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" He gave a sad smile before patting his arm and standing up. Everyone quieted down at he did, Aléxandros saw the Hermit give him a strange look before looking to the Son.

"Friends, comrades, countrymen, I know I've been gone for a long time so I beg your forgiveness for doing that." Cries of denial rang out from many of the people there.

"We understood why you left my Lord so we'll stand behind you through thick and thin." Valentina said smacking her chest with one hand as emphasis. Many more roared or hammered their cups into the hard wood table in support.

"And I thank you for that but during the time I was gone I had a lot of time to think to myself about the future of the Kingdom, of my people. It was out there that I realized what I had to do and when I came to that realization I made haste to come back as quick as I could." Aléxandros really didn't like where this was going.

"To be blunt, I'm abdicating my position to a much more suited person." He didn't get farther as everyone in the room cried out that he didn't need to do that. In a rare moment that Aléxandros has never seen except on the battlefield, he got angry.

"ENOUGH!" His voiced thundered accompanied by a loud crack, the room and everyone stood still. No one dared make a moved as he gave each person a piercing glare that Aléxandros found surprising that no one pissed themselves. Looking down at the table he could see that the Son had put a hole into the four inch thick hardwood.

"It's my right to give my title as I see fit and I shall do so. Unless one of you thinks you can stop me, I'm more than willing to have a duel to decide this matter with all of you." Not a single person met his gaze; everyone looked where they could without having to see him.

"Aléxandros. Stand." He commanded and with great reluctance he did.

The Son walked over to the back wall where his greatsword leaned against the wall, which during the time of his absence had acquired a number of new nicks and scratches on the blade. Picking it up he moved back towards him and gestured for him to kneel.

He rested the flat side of the blade on his shoulder and pointed with his free hand to a banner that hung above the fireplace behind them. It was a banner with twin golden crescents with a red background.

"I, High Lord of Arcadia, hereby grant this man before me in front of his peers and those of the Kingdom the full status and power of my position. Let no man, woman, or child not recognize him as the new Lord of this Kingdom and its people. Do you Aléxandros swear in front of your kinsmen that you will do all that you can for them?" A small part of him really wanted to say no but he knew that whether or not he took it the Son would still go through with whatever he planned.

"Yes."

"Do you swear to keep them fed?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear that you'll to keep them in good health?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear to defend and fight for them in time of war and crisis?"

"Yes." Each question and answer laid another invisible weight on his back. Peeking from the corner of his eye, he could see the Stranger smirking.

"Even if you die doing that duty?"

"Yes."

"As such it is witnessed by the people of Arcadia that you shall stand anew. No longer Aléxandros, the man who came from nowhere, but Alexander Arc, first of his name and High Lord of Arcadia."

* * *

 **The Next Morning…**

Alexander stood in the main chambers that had been reserved for the Son. Though as of now he supposed it was his.

It was a well furbished room with a dark oak wood with a large carpet in the center with a bed over it. There were also paintings on the walls with an armor stand in one corner and a large table with rows of decanters filled with expensive spirits on it. To one side of the room was a large stone fireplace built into the wall.

Things that most people in the Kingdom wouldn't be able to afford. Though not that he had any real say in what it had looked like.

The room had been constructed in the beginning days of Clove for the Son if he ever came to visit or stay. Though the purpose changed when Murias fell and it changed again now that he plans on leaving again in a matter of days leaving Alexander the new High Lord of Arcadia.

"Why?" He asked as he looked out the single glass window that overlooked Clove. The colony or now city bustled with life as people went about their day, though surely by now the news was spreading about him being named the new High Lord.

"Because there are things out there that we need to take care of now." The Son said.

"There are things here that need to be looked after as well; didn't you always tell us how your mother told you to help those in need? These people need your help now." Alexander said as he turned around to look at them and gestured out the window.

"That's not what I see Alexander, you've done a great job as it is in developing every possible area in their lives as you can already." He ran a hand through his hair as he took a deep breath.

"These people are devoted to you, you can't leave them behind." The Son gave him a sad smile.

"I didn't leave them behind; I was just unable to grow with them. But then in the end that was always the destiny for our kind. We can guide and protect them but we can never end up being one of them, one day we must fade into history as nothing more than a myth or legend, a story to be passed down but never to be striven for." Alexander sighed as he looked towards the Hermit.

"I believe you have something to speak of as well, don't you?" The old man nodded.

"Don't worry lad I'll try not to bore you to death." He stood up and headed towards the fireplace to stare into it.

"During his Journey I encountered him fighting the servants of the Dark Gods. Watching him I had a vision of a place filled with nothing but hate and other dark emotions that I shan't describe. There I reckoned I saw the place where the fate of this world is to be decided and I saw a warrior illuminated in white fighting shadows in the view of a dark tower there were others with him but it was difficult to tell who they were but I believe the one I saw first is him." He closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall next to the fire place.

"There are a great many details that I'm unaware of but I feel that this is necessary to do. We must find this place and cut the head off the snake in order to save both Faunus and Mankind." Alexander crossed his arms.

"Honestly there are so many things wrong with that. How are the two of you supposed to do this? I'm sure you're strong but the two of you can't do this alone." The Hermit turned and he could see traces of a smile in his eyes.

"Who said we'll actually do this alone?" Alexander narrowed his eyes.

"You're not the only ones that have found their way to this world." The Hermit said as he raised his hand and said something. Alexander wasn't sure though, he could see him move his mouth to speak yet there was no sound, even the crackle of the fire seemed to be silenced it was as if he went deaf.

The room grew cold as in the Hermit's outstretched hand a symbol formed from ice; he could feel his face turn to a scowl as he recognized it. Alexander cupped his chin as he looked down at the floor in thought.

"Those that fled their own fall have sought shelter on these lands as well. I've encountered them many times, or well they've come to me many times and I've learned that we are similar in a sense." Alexander looked up.

"Do you mean you're abilities?" The Hermit smiled as he tossed the symbol into the flames to melt into nothing.

"True we're similar in that but I rather prefer to look at our mutual desire to have those on the outside leave us alone yet we cannot abide by watching the world fall to an unnatural death." Alexander ran his hand through his long hair in thought before he looked towards him again.

"I can't stop you in this can I?" The old man shook his head.

"No and nor can you help us." Alexander frowned again but the Son raised a hand to stop him from speaking.

"It's for the best Alexander, Arcadia would have had a chance had it not fallen apart even then I doubt most of the soldiers that would march with us to this fight would return home. Even now there's more than a small chance that we might lose this anyways so I would feel comfortable to know that the Kingdom would be left in capable hands such as yours." Alexander sat down on the bed and placed his face in his hands.

"You're fools to believe that this will actually work, you know that right? There are things that none of us understand that are taking place, to assume you can stop it is nothing but sheer hubris." The Hermit finally frowned.

"I understand you're frustrated with this Watcher but it must be done." Alexander simply nodded silently, the Son and the Hermit turned towards the door but as the Hermit approached the door he gestured for the Son to lean closer. Alexander could see in the corner of his eye the two of them staring at each other yet nothing was being said. The Son nodded and closed the door leaving the two of them in the room.

"What is it now old man?" The corner of the Hermits mouth twisted up in a grin.

"There are some things you and I need to talk about, specifically about you."

"I'm not sure I'm going to like this." Alexander said as he crossed his arms together, the old man laughed as he walked over to the decanters and poured himself a drink.

"You know about the Ether, right?"

"The Immaterium, what about it?" The Hermit took a seat and took a sup from his cup.

"Ah, that's good. Anyways there's something that I and the Exiled have come to figure out a while back. We discovered that something has given the ability for the people on this world to be able to produce their own latent powers."

"Exiled?" Alexander asked raising an eyebrow, the old man nodded impatiently.

"Yes, yes, that is what they call themselves. Though there's a different more official name but I call them the Exiled. Now back to my point, it seems that their spies have noticed that groups of Humans and Faunus have somehow unlocked this power. I do not know what it is but it's spreading, soon many if not all of the people will have this power at their disposal." Alexander rubbed his chin; he didn't find that to be welcome news at all. That kind of power has always been dangerous. It invited disaster in the form of total destruction of the world and with their current form of technology no one had a chance to stop such a thing once it takes root.

"I can see the worry in your face but don't fret, this power is only limited. Those that utilize it can only draw on their own life force; as such their connection to the Ether won't lead, them, to us nor can anyone truly tap into the powers that lay in that direction." Alexander looked up at him.

"So it will be limited then, that's a relief." The Hermit nodded.

"There's another thing that was discussed and that's the connection between this world and where we come from." Alexander raised an eyebrow at that.

"Connection?" He nodded.

"Something has drawn us to this world, I do not know what but it must have been powerful to orchestrate this and that something suggests that we won't be the only ones dragged here. Now the question you have to ask yourself is who else is going to come and when will that happen?"

"Do you know who can come through?" The Hermit shook his head.

"There's no way to know who or what will come through all you can do is be patient." The old man told him but Alexander was already thinking about plans to start putting together surveyor groups to start looking for potential areas of expansion.

He had come to realize a while ago that the lesson of Murias fall was that putting their eggs into one basket was not the smartest plan. No matter how well that basket was constructed, everything eventually goes up into flames.

"Do you have anything else you would like to ask?" Alexander looked up at the old man as a new thought popped into his head.

"What happened earlier when you made that symbol? The Hermit tilted his head a little in confusion.

"I'm not sure what you mean?" Alexander gestured to his ears.

"When you made that symbol, you said something but I couldn't hear it, in fact I couldn't hear anything until after it was formed."

"Ah I know what you mean; I simply called its Name." Alexander frowned.

"What does that mean?" The Hermit said nothing as he stood up and headed once more to the door before turning around.

"Do you want to know what my mother told me when I started showing signs of these powers as a child?" Alexander nodded and the Hermit smiled.

"Knowledge is Power so guard it well."

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Alexander once more stood at the main gate of Clove with the Lords and Commanders of Arcadia by his side, there was Maud who was the Prefect of Clove, Valentina who was the ranking Military Commander, the new Captain of the Guard and several others. Several steps behind them a line of black armored guards with their poleaxes stood at attention.

Surrounding them were lines of soldiers that separated the regular population of Clove and their former Lord who stood in his armor with a grey cloak draped around his shoulders. The people cried out in despair to see him leave and Alexander didn't blame them.

"It's strange to think of this as goodbye, a part of me wants to think that he'll return someday but I know deep down in my heart that this will be the last time we see him." Valentina said from his right.

"Things happen; all we can do is keep our chin up and take it in stride." Alexander said as he watched the two men walk out the city limits, the gate closing behind them

"Do you know where they are going?" Maud asked from behind him and he nodded.

"I do but he asked that I do not reveal any information about it." He could feel annoyance seep out of Maud at hearing that. She was never one to take kindly to being left out of the loop even when it was necessary.

"I'm still unsure of why that man is going with him." Another voiced asked and he looked towards the new Captain of the Guard a petite Faunus reptile by the name of Beatrice Eopsin. Her family had migrated to Arcadia a decade ago and her surprising skill with dual longsword saw her recruitment into the Guard.

"There are a lot of things that we don't know at this point Beatrice; all we can do is stay the course and do our duty." Valentina remarked.

"But that doesn't explain why he either burned everything that had his name or altered them to not say it." Beatrice and Alexander looked at her again.

"It's because he wanted to erase his name from our records."

"I understand that but I don't understand why he wants to do that, for all intents and purpose he might as well not exist." Alexander looked forward again.

"That's the point." All of them looked at him unsure what had happened that warranted this. Though none of them pressed the issue instead turning to leave as the crowd slowly started to disperse. Only he and Maud stayed behind along with two of the black armored Guards.

"Tell me the truth; is he going out there to die?" Alexander looked down at her.

"What makes you say that?" Maud looked up at him as if he was an idiot.

"Laelia and him were awfully close weren't they?" Alexander nodded.

"She was his assistant; she stayed close to as much as she could. I reckoned she'd even follow him onto the battlefield if she could." Maud looked away.

"That's love, it's a powerfully reckless tool that brings us to new heights but can also lay low even the strongest of us."

"Any emotion can do that, rage, grief, envy, we're spared from nothing yet to not experience those things means you're less human because of it."

"That's the thing about being human, nothing is easy. One day you might realize that but I doubt it will be soon." Alexander looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"What are you trying to say?" Maud placed her hands on her hips.

"Come on Alexander, you can't fool me, I'm pretty sure I have a clear idea of the situation. The two of you have always been strange but when the old man arrived it became painfully clear that there was more to meet the eye." Alexander turned to her but the older woman just ignored the stare he gave her.

"And how much do you think you actually know Maud?" She smiled.

"I suppose I don't know the full thing but I'm certain about what I know." Alexander said nothing as he looked towards the sky.

"Get the others and meet me in my new chambers within the hour, we need to have a talk."

* * *

 **Later…**

"Any questions?" Alexander asked as he stood in the middle of his chambers looking at the assemble Lords and Commanders. He had just finished giving them all a sparsely detailed story of his life that had taken nearly six hours to go over. Even then there were a number of things he couldn't get into like who his Master was and some of the more specific details on the powers beyond the veil of reality.

"Well, that's something." Beatrice said from the corner, Alexander nodded.

"I understand if this is a lot to process but I figured now would be a good time to clue to you all in on some of the things that were kept from you."

"Why?" Valentina asked.

"Because it's important, especially after what happened in Murias. I didn't want to say anything then because I figured it wasn't truly my place to speak. However now that I've been left in charge, I reckoned it would be better to keep you informed. I've seen what happens when important information is withheld and it can breed resentment."

"So what do we do now?" Maud asked. He turned towards a table to pick up a pile of sheets with his long and short term goals that he had written in the time Maud had gathered everyone. He distributed them and everyone looked them over, Maud was the first to comment.

"This is going to take time and even then I doubt we'll be able to get this done in a decade." Valentina scoffed.

"I don't think a decade is much time for him to worry about." This brought a small chuckle out of the room.

"I've already given orders out for surveyors to start moving around the region. Within the first year or year and a half the first phase of the plan should be ready to be drawn to a close." One of the new Lords in the room spoke up, he was a tall, thin man with brown hair and a young face.

"Still the fundamental part of the plan requires a long time to put into effect. I suppose we can put an emphasis on families and birth rate, maybe tax incentives for families." Alexander nodded.

"That's a good start Lord Caerus but don't make it seem like it's necessary to start a family just for the incentive. We don't want to rock the family dynamic too much leading to ill-suited people becoming parents. If you want to take charge of the Civic aspects then feel free to do so but have a proposal sent to me within the week." The Lord nodded and bowed his head before excusing himself.

"It looks as if we'll have to double the Guard then." Beatrice spoke up next. The Guard had traditionally been charged with maintaining the security and order of the capital Murias and now Clove as well. A crucial part in his plan for the restructuring of the Law included aspects that would prohibit the Adorarent Daemonia on the punishment of death.

"Not in this case Beatrice, I'm going to remove the Guard from their duties of overseeing the city. Beatrice snapped her head up at that and moved off the wall she had been leaning against.

"What!? Why Sire?! How have we failed you!?" Alexander held his had up to stopping her from breaking down.

"I'm merely giving the duty to a new group that will be built to only handle the law and safety of the city. The Guard will be my right hand in other matters; we'll talk more about this another time." Alexander turned to face the assembled group.

"Alright, I know this seems like a daunting task but I have faith in you all. Though I won't tell you a lie like saying that this will be easy or how we won't fail, failure and defeat are a part of life. The true test of a person is how they handle that, some may give up but others may rise to face the challenges of life and become stronger for that. I know which one you all belong to." Alexander said and the others simply gave him determined looks, a fire of intensity was present in each of their eyes that he couldn't help but smile.

Though a small part of his mind held no true hope for them to survive the next few decades, whether it was pessimism or realism, he wasn't sure.

Only time would tell.

* * *

 **Many Years Later…**

"Get Down!" Someone screamed and Eucleia Aolos dove into a nearby crater. Gunfire cracked over her head and the unnatural roars of Grimm echoed around the area. Cradling her Agripinaa Mark 3 rifle she crawled towards the lip after waiting a few seconds. People were still screaming as she reached the lip of the crater.

In front of her there was another crater but inside of it was a large Beowolf, though its attention was distracted as it ripped at whoever was in there with it. The blood curdling scream was drowned out by more gunfire as other members of her platoon engaged the Grimm.

Raising her rifle up she pulled the box magazine out to inspect it before quickly slotting it back in and pulled the bolt up and back before pushing it back in. Lining it up with the black and white mass of the Grimm, she fired. The rifle kicked and she quickly worked the rifle's bolt as she put two more rounds into the Beowolf's side.

Little black clouds popped from the Beowolf's skin, but it wasn't a cloud of blood as she was used to see but the black misty substance commonly associated with Grimm.

The Grimm however was unfazed by this and looked towards her; the sight of its red eye zeroing in on her gave her pause. She wanted to curl up into a ball and forget the world but her training kicked in keeping her moving the bolt as she fired.

Even with the rifle rounds smacking into its torso, the Beowolf charged and Eucleia stood up to back out of the crater. When it reached twenty feet, four more rifles opened up nearby, the added weight of gunfire slowed the Beowolf as she quickly reloaded her weapon.

Pulling out her revolver she emptied the six rounds into the head of the beast. The Beowolf finally slumped to the ground, its limbs twitching and its blood red eyes seeming to focus on her.

"Eucleia! Get your ass moving!" Someone called out and she turned around, hopping out of the crater to run back towards a small patch of trees.

There were two dozen members of her platoon hold up amongst the trees. A few of them were sending rounds behind her. As she finally reached the trees she dove behind one of them, next to her were two soldiers from her squad that were manning a heavy stubber. Even more particular was the fact they were using their steel helmets to prop up the heavy stubber.

A long burst of fire erupted out of the barrel as they sighted another Beowolf. To Eucleia the weapon kind of sounded like someone beating rapidly on a drum set.

"For fuck sakes Eucleia, what were you doing out there?!" A voiced asked from her right, she looked to see her sergeant, a cat Faunus named Gabriel. Though she couldn't help but focus on the fact that he was holding a thick wad of gauze over the stump where his right hand used to be.

"Look at me Eucleia." He snapped and she tore her gaze from him to see that his face was looked more like snow than anything else.

"You've got to focus Eucleia, I know this is your first fight but if you can't keep your head on straight you're going to get killed, and worse you might get someone else killed." She gulped and nodded, Gabriel gave her a sickly smile.

"Good, now keep looking out there and keep the Grimm away. The rest of the company should be here soon." Looking out towards the snowy landscape she could help but shiver, though it wasn't because of the weather. She had gotten used to the biting chill the wind would bring in no matter how many layers they seemed to wear.

No, she could see the red eyes of Grimm in the distance watching and waiting. Even though it was midday their red eyes were just as clear as ever. So inhuman, so evil, it wasn't a wonder that they've been fighting for countless years against this threat.

"Is Dusken here?" Gabriel asked and a head popped into view. Dusken was the platoon's vox operator, without him they would be stuck here with no way of letting reinforcements know where they were.

"I'm here Sarge."

"Get on the line and see if you can get in contact with the Captain. We're already down a squad and the others are pinned, if they try to move without information they'll be brought down before they get even halfway here." Eucleia looked out again and saw what he was talking about. There were small groups of soldiers struck either in craters or behind rocks and trees. Occasionally they'd send some potshots towards the waiting Grimm.

"Why haven't they attacked us yet?" A voice spoke on her right and she looked down to see her squad mate Torish, a short dark skinned bald man who held another belt of rounds for Vivien, a pale blue hair girl who manned the stubber.

"I don't know Torish but if I had to hazard a guess it's probably because it's a relatively small pack." Vivien said before glancing up at Eucleia.

"Did you see Robinson out there?" Eucleia shook her head.

"No, where's everyone else?" Vivien shrugged.

"Neal, Ruddrick, and Hanson are dead, Sarge is hurt as you are no doubt aware but other than that the platoon is scattered around this place." Torish looked towards her now.

"Lieutenant Dike and his squad are dead as well." Eucleia blinked in surprise.

"How?" He pointed west towards a small hill where they had been originally trying to go to. Their objective had been to establish a small camp to watch for any approaching military force but instead they had run into this Beowolf pack.

"Tried taking his squad to try and get higher ground I suppose, fucking got slaughtered up there." Gabriel spoke from behind her.

"Gabe, they're on the move." A new voice spoke up and Eucleia looked to see a dour face man. It was Sergeant First Class Godden, aside from Gabriel; he was the only one with combat experience under their belt in the platoon.

"Show me." Gabriel said forcing himself to his feet but Field Chiurgeon Melos stopped him.

"Sergeant you can't move so much right now, you've lost a lot of blood already. You won't do any of us good passed out." Gabriel sat down reluctantly and fumbled a little in getting his revolver out, he gave a sickly smile towards the other man.

"Looks like this shit show is yours Godden, maybe you'll even get a commendation for this." Godden snorted.

"Yea, I'll put it with the others." There was a deep rumble and all conversation stopped as they looked towards the northern horizon.

"Was that thunder?" Someone near them asked.

"Could be artillery, maybe the 22nd finally got off their lazy butts and deployed their batteries." Torish said but Godden shook his head.

"No, the 22nd is supposed to be moving down south with the rest of the 6th Division and link with the 3rd Corp in case war breaks out with the Four Kingdoms." Lightning flashed and more thunder rolled over the area.

"A lightning storm?" Someone remarked as dark clouds rolled in from the Northern Mountains.

"Something about this doesn't bode very well if you ask me." Dusken said and Eucleia couldn't help but agree with the assessment. The Beowolves started to howl drawing everyone's attention back to their surroundings, Eucleia couldn't help but chide herself internally at forget they were there.

"They're leaving!" Someone shouted and they watched as one by one the Beowolves at the edge of the tree line took off. Eucleia couldn't help but notice that they headed in the opposite direction of the storm. Lightning struck nearby and she blinked as the afterimage lingered in her vision.

"That was close." She muttered to herself. Looking up to the sky she could see that it was starting to shift colors as well, it was becoming a mix of purple and blue with flashes of lightning racing across the sky. The air seemed to grow colder, a shiver went down her spine as the smell of something sweet and rancid wafted through the air around them.

"Dusken, get on the vox and tell Major Hagen that he needs to bring the Battalion here now." Godden snapped at the stunned young man who fumbled for the vox handset.

"Grayson go and pull everyone back, the Grimm are gone so we can regroup." Another man ran off to gather the scattered elements of the platoon.

"Sergeant, I can't get through to anyone of the other companies." Dusken reported and Godden swore as he snatched the handset from him to listen to it.

"Are you sure this is the right frequency?" He asked the vox operator and he nodded.

"Shit." Godden tossed the handset back to him and hefted his rifle; Gabriel looked up sluggishly to him. The man was looking more and more like a ghost, if they didn't get him to a Medicae Facility soon he was a goner.

"What's wrong?" Godden looked towards the man and for the first time since she's known the Sergeant First Class, she could clearly see fear on the man's face.

"There's only one thing I can think of that can truly challenge the Grimm." Godden whispered but despite the rising wind that seemed to carry unnatural howls they could all hear him fine. Like a sudden heavy weight they all realized what he meant.

"Fuck." Someone said in response to the apparent silence that had descended on the platoon. Lighting flashed nearby and thundered rolled across the land, followed closely by a large gust of wind. More lighting and thunder flashed, wind blew in their faces harshly while the ground shook with tremors.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Someone shouted everyone braced themselves as best they could. Eucleia didn't know but whatever it was, it was far beyond what they could handle. In the distance they could see a swirling spot of cloud mixed purple and blue that seemed to pulse. Lighting flashed continuously leaving afterimages burnt in her vision but she couldn't help but look nonetheless.

"I think it's time for you all to leave." A deep voice calmly spoke from behind her and much to her dismay, she squeaked in fear as she fell to the ground.

She rolled onto her back to see a slightly older man in golden armor with a helmet that had a red transverse plume on top. The very sight of him seemed to calm her nerves and soothe her eyes.

A large greatsword was imbedded tip first into the ground; the blade of the sword must have been at least five feet long with a styled hilt being another foot.

"It's the High Lord." Torish spoke in awe, many of the soldiers fell to their knees with their heads bowed. Eucleia couldn't help but notice the brief flash of what looked to be distaste in his eyes but maybe it was just a trick of light as he smiled at them.

"Sergeant First Class Lucian Godden, take your wounded and follow my subordinate here. He'll lead you to safety." Alexander gestured to a black armored warrior who stood behind him; he held a black pollaxe though she couldn't help but notice that the head of the weapon was tinged blue.

Along with that she could see red glow of the twin eye slits of the visored helmet watching her. She couldn't help but remember the red eyes of the Beowolves that it sent a shiver down her spine again.

"Yes sir, we'll get out of your way. Pack it up people, we're out of here!" Godden ordered and Alexander watched as the platoon of Arcadian soldiers gathered their few wounded. He couldn't help but feel a hint of nostalgia at the sight of them, even after all these years the Grimm still make each of their strikes to be fatal.

"My Lord, shall we head out now?" A voice spoke on his left and Alexander looked over to see one of the commanders of the Praetorian Guard that he had taken with him on this endeavor.

"Ah, Castor where is your Centuria right now?" The black armored warrior stepped forward and held up a map of the local area. Alexander could see a circle marked on the map of the target area then made two marks with a small pencil to indicate the direction of the Praetorian Centuria that had been sent ahead.

"Interesting, did you tell them to wait till my arrival?" The man nodded, though his face was obscured by the visored barbuta.

"Good, now let's move, we don't have a lot of time left."

* * *

 **Later…**

Alexander stepped up to the edge of the tree line where a hundred warriors of the Praetorian Guard stood with their pollaxes held ready. Gripping the hilt of his own greatsword, blue light illuminated the blade and he could feel the steady hum of energy in the weapon.

A small smile crept to his face; he had sorely missed having a power weapon, his broke when he had first arrived here. Then with the current state of technology this world had at that time he knew that replacing it wouldn't happen for a long time.

Thought had they had been able to create even a few of them back then things might have been different but that was just wishful thinking.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts he looked forward again. In front of them was a large clearing where a three way fight was well underway.

Pink slithering creatures that were nothing more than twisted or perverted forms of humans with tentacles, claws and pincers fought the Creatures of Grimm. Hundreds of Beowolves, Ursai, and even half a dozen Deathstalkers went toe to toe with the Ruinous creatures.

The servants of the Lord of Dark Delights fought fiercely, both agile and strong they were more than a match for the lesser Grimm. A dozen Beowolves would be killed by a pair of Daemonettes before they even had a chance to land a hit.

Though he could see that much to the credit of the Grimm they were just as deadly.

The older and larger ones like the Deathstalkers proved to be able to take on a number of the Daemonettes in terms of its sheer size, strength and surprising speed. Though all but one were left alive, the others being dragged down one by one by the weight of numerous Daemonettes bent on their deaths.

While the Alpha or older Beowolves could keep up in speed while not being enticed by their horrendous charms like most sentient beings. The Ursai Majors ability to work in pairs kept them from being overwhelmed by the Daemonettes speed.

The third and smallest group was what looked to be a group of armored warriors. Now a small part of his mind still recognized the advance armor of his original time, along with the sharp crack and bangs of bolter fire.

There was a little more than a hundred of them, but he could see that a number of them were wounded or dead already. Farthest out from them was one warrior who seemed to be fighting and beating anything that came within blade reach.

"Prepare to charge!" He yelled loud enough for the hundred Praetorians around him to hear as he slipped his helmet on. Raising his greatsword he gripped it in both hands then charged. The sound of a hundred pairs of boots feet behind him was drowned out as the closet Daemonette turned to look at them.

It jumped and lashed downward with a spiked crab-like arm, Alexander spun to the right avoiding the claw and bringing his blade at a downward angle and connected with its torso. The energized blade sliced the Daemonette in half at the chest level.

He could hear it cackling in joy though it didn't last long as it quickly died. Though the haunting laugh lingered in the air as more and more of the Daemonettes took joy at their deaths.

Pivoting forward he reversed his grip and swung his sword again meeting the clawed strike of a second Daemonette. The blade cut the top of the pincer of its outstretched arm its face twisted in a mock version of absolute joy before he rammed his blade forward the tip of the blade cutting into its face.

Kicking it off and quickly jumped back as a yellow stinger struck the ground where he stood. Looking up he could see that the Deathstalker had zeroed in on him. Around him the Praetorians joined the fray, the sounds of fighting increased around him as full plated armored warriors fought with the foe of both sides.

Dashing forward he rolled under the first swipe of one of its pincers before rolling forward avoiding a second strike from the stinger. Rolling to his feet he could see the other pincer sailing towards him and spun inwards barely avoiding the pincer.

The Deathstalker's face within range of him now, he rolled to the side as it lunged forward. The chelicerae clicking as it sought to catch him. Standing up he jabbed his blade upward striking where its front left leg attached to the body.

Even with a powered weapon it felt as if he was striking stone with it, the Deathstalker screeched and moved away from him. However he kept near it and moved towards its face as it sought to collect itself, the leg he struck was motionless as the smell of brunt plastic wafted into the air temporally overwhelming the sickly sweet smell of the Ruinous foes. Lunging forward he slammed his blade; tip first, into one of its larger eyes near the top of its head.

Screeching again it tried to back away but he held onto his blade as it was embedded into the Grimm's eye. Heaving himself up, he stood on top of the creature and gripped his greatsword with both hands then pulled as hard as he could. The blade slipped more and more into the Deathstalker as it screamed in pain before falling to the ground.

He jumped forward and crouched low to the ground as the stinger soared after him only to strike the snowy ground. Standing up he turned and punched another eye, as his gauntlet struck it the eye burst in a shower of foul black greasy liquid.

Alexander gripped his sword and braced his foot against the bone carapace and pulled his blade out. Looking around he could see the tide of the battle was slowly turning with the sudden onslaught of the Praetorians.

The armored warriors on the hill rallied around their apparent leader and pushed towards them. The Grimm break off first from the fighting as more and more of them fell to the blades of the Praetorians.

The Daemonettes on the other hand seemed to double their efforts to fight, though whether it was to win or just to experience death he wasn't sure and nor did he want to know. Another Daemonette leapt at him from behind the corpse of the Deathstalker.

Jumping back he avoided the first strike then lunge with his blade but the Daemonette jumped over him. Spinning around he tried to catch it as it landed but just as its feet touched the snowy ground it did a backflip and lashed at him with its clawed foot.

The clawed foot struck his forearm and he moved back to create distance between him and the Daemonette as it jumped towards slashed down with its clawed hands. Alexander rolled forward and spun in a low crouch swinging his greatsword up. Though the Daemonette twisted its body to the side at the last second avoiding the blade.

Standing up he faced it as it rushed him again, he took his right hand off the hilt of the greatsword as he slashed with the blade horizontally. The Daemonette jumped up, twisting its body out of the way only for him to grab its foot and pull it down to the ground.

The Daemonette rolled on the ground and as it stood up he struck it with his armored gauntlet, shattering the bones of its face. Rolling on the ground with broken bones and shattered teeth it cackled with glee as it tried to stand up again.

However Alexander's greatsword as already descending on it, the energized blade met its head and cleaved through it.

Looking up he could see that the Daemonettes were in frenzy as the clouds were starting to dissipate. He gritted his teeth; this would be the most dangerous moment as their time was up. Whatever that kept them anchored was no longer there as they fled the area.

"Hunt them down!" Alexander yelled loudly, the Praetorians broke off in squads of ten and dispersed to chase down the foe. He turned around and was greeted by the sight of a red painted bolt pistol aimed at him.

The person holding it was a woman with short platinum blonde hair that was tied behind her head. She wore white armor with a black cloak with red trimming the edges. She had a broken sword in her other hand, the blade had fractured at the midpoint of the fuller.

"Who are you?" The woman asked as others surrounded him with bolters trained on him. They all wore similar armor to her and far as he could tell they were all women as well.

"I believe my obligation to answer any questions to someone that's holding a gun to my face isn't that high." The woman frowned.

"Your obligation is misplaced if you think that the person holding all the cards will be swayed by those words that disobey her command." Alexander smiled inside his helmet, the woman gestured to his greatsword.

"Toss that aside." Alexander tossed the greatsword out of reach and reached up for his helmet but the woman clicked her tongue.

"I wouldn't do that unless you want to keep that head." Alexander kept his hands up with their palms out.

"May I take off my helmet; it would do me no good to not look face to face with my apparent captors." The woman didn't say anything for a moment before she nodded.

"Fine, take it off. But do it slowly, if you don't then you're dead." Alexander chuckled as he slowly pulled his helmet off. He could see some of them relax a fraction; no doubt they had expected some twisted servants of the Ruinous Powers. He could also see the Aquila on some of their armor, he smiled.

"Tell me, how did the Praetorian of Terra keep the Traitor from reaching the Throne?" This drew a look of surprise on the woman's face.

"What?"

"You have the Aquila on your armor, so I assume we won? How has my Master dealt with the remaining Traitors?" The woman lowered her bolt and he could see something in her eyes that made him realize that he may regret in asking this question.

"Who are you?" The woman asked.

"I may ask you the same." The woman stiffened before bowing her head slightly.

"I am Canoness Superior Arabella of the Order of the Sacred Rose." Alexander nodded.

"Well Canoness Superior Arabella, I was once known as Shield Captain Aléxandros of the Sentinel Guard but now you may refer to me as High Lord Alexander Arc of Arcadia."

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Alexander stood with his hands behind his back looking over the town of Helvisk from the town's central Keep. It was a relatively new town, with only a few thousand civilians, that was founded on the northern side of Arcadian territory that was settled a little more than a decade ago.

It had also been the site of one of the fiercest battles that the Arcadian Army had to fight in the last two decades.

The Septemtrionis Stipendium or informally known as the Northern Campaign had been a six year long effort in driving out the Grimm for new land to take. The lead Army elements had the task of tracking and harassing Grimm packs to keep them from forming into a sizable horde as the main strength of the Army moved in to fortify the areas.

There was only so much distance they could travel though due to the constraints of traveling by foot. Arcadia couldn't make enough vehicles to be able to transfer more than a small chunk at a time as there weren't enough manufactories to supply them.

On average they made about fifteen to twenty miles every few days through mountains and thick forests while having to maintain a steady supply line.

On top of that despite the best attempts of the Army vanguard, the Grimm had formed into a number of relatively large size hordes that either struck the Vanguard or main Army elements.

Many soldiers were lost in terrifying ambushes at night or when taken by surprise from Nevermores swooped down. While the small or medium sized ones didn't pose a big threat once enough firepower was directed towards them, the larger ones proved to be far more troublesome than any could hope for.

For instance the treacherous mountain trails meant spreading the Army thinly which meant any section under attack could only be supported by those in front or behind. So the Nevermores took more than a few soldiers to their deaths as they were either knocked off the trail or impaled from their steel like feathers.

With the rising casualties and poor weather hindering the movement of the main Army Group, the Vanguard receiving less and less supplies for them to move forward as such they were grounded to a full halt.

So it was decided that the Vanguard had done what it could and that they needed to form up with the rest of the Army. However at that point in time the Grimm had tarnished the supply lines so badly the Vanguard couldn't make it back safely without expending what supplies that they had left.

Though they were only four days travel from the main Army, the terrain and weather were against them. The main army had gotten bogged down in a massive blizzard so they would be delayed a few extra days before they could reach them.

So the Vanguard gathered and pooled their meager supplies into building a small fort to hold out in.

During the first night the Grimm descended on them. They were able to drive the Grimm out after an hour of harsh fighting but had suffered to the point that a fifth of their manpower was down for the count.

The Grimm however itched for another fight as they sensed blood on the wind, so they sieged the small fort for nearly a week.

By the time the main Army had gotten within range of the Vanguard, they were all but dead, with a little less than a company barricaded underground as Ursai pounded the doors. In the surrounding lands and forest a horde estimated to be around forty thousand strong waited for the Army.

Alexander had no faith in those numbers as it was completely unreliable for documentation as the dead never stayed long for an accurate account nor did they have the time to do a proper head count.

The subsequent battle lasted for the better part of another day with intense fighting over thirty miles of land. This blunted the Army's strength enough that he issued orders for the campaign to end the moment he heard about it.

At the end of the campaign the total count of the Arcadian forces had been a hundred thousand strong Army Corp. With a Light Infantry Division that had acted as the vanguard for the rest of the Army Corp.

In the end the final report of the Septemtrionis Stipendium that made it to his desk said that they had a little over forty thousand soldiers, either dead, wounded, or missing. It had been a crippling defeat but it did have some success in the long run for Arcadia.

Thanks to the early success of the campaign. They had established four new major spots to colonize due to their high abundance of ore and other mineral resources. Along with another six minor spots for basic settlement and agriculture purposes.

He also remembered that during time was also the first contact with Vacuoan merchants.

In the self-enforced seclusion of Arcadia they had been forgotten by the outside world which meant that information of what happened to the world was nonexistent. In return they had been lost to the annals of history as one of the few bright hopes of the world in beating the Grimm that was lost in the Old Age.

With their apparent disappearance it left a major power vacuum that had seen the defeat and death of an untold amount of people as they tried to step up to the role. They either died at the hands of others who wanted the title of most powerful or to the Grimm.

Even Murias was left untouched apparently as a sign of both respect and fear. If the Grimm had annihilated one of the most powerful Kingdoms at the time no one wanted to stay at the site of that defeat. Many people over the years claiming it to be cursed at the uneasy feeling it gave people.

However with the arrival of those merchants that had found their ways into the cold waters of Clove, they could finally hear about the outside world again.

News spread throughout Arcadia of the finding of Dust and the emergence of Aura. These new finds or discoveries had led to the people in the outside world finally forming together to challenge the Grimm. Driving them back in order to finally claim lost ground and cultivate its growth.

At the same time he found it sad that only Four Kingdoms remained those being Mantle, Vale, Vacuo and Mistral.

He did understand how Mistral had risen due to Arcadia's past campaigns on the continent of Sanus. Especially considering the Siege of Colossae where they helped the defenders defeat the Grimm then watched those people sail over the sea to find a new haven.

However diplomatic relationships have yet to be established with any of these Four Kingdoms in the years since the initial contact. Dispatching spies he was able to find out that there was tension brewing between the Four Kingdoms.

It seemed that Vale and Mantle were the principal actors of this tension with Mistral siding with Mantle and Vacuo staying out of the way.

Alexander decided that he'd keep commercial channels open to the Four Kingdoms but would ultimately stay away from engaging in any diplomatic talks. He didn't want to upset something that he had no true clue in nor did he want to get into a fight that didn't seem very important in the grand scheme of things.

He had also sent agents out to track down the merchants that had arrived in Arcadia and silenced them. While it was far from honorable, he didn't want too many outsiders to come into Arcadia especially since there was a substantial difference between the two groups now.

Instead he would rather continue helping Arcadia flourish as best he could. Looking over his shoulder he could see a dozen women sitting at a long wooden table eating silently in the stateroom of the town's Prefect.

Though there was another matter that took a lot of his time. It was the finding and recovery of people and items from his old life.

These women weren't the first ones to find their way to this world. Over the years he's found and recruited a number of people or taken abandoned technology to act as blueprints. Along with the destruction of items and beings that shouldn't exist as they could easily lead to the downfall of life on this world.

"So Custodian, what have you been doing here for so long?" A slightly gruff voice called out. He turned to face the table again; the women all eyed him with various degrees of awe and suspicion.

"I've been here, guiding and helping these people to the best of my abilities." One of the women crossed their arms.

"I find that hard to believe." He raised an eyebrow and looked towards the speaker. The woman had short brown hair and a scar crossing from one cheek over her nose to the other cheek.

"And you are?" The woman crossed her arms.

"Andromache, Retributor in the Order of the Sacred Rose." Alexander waved his hand dismissively.

"Yes, yes, whatever. Here's my question to you then Andromache of the Sacred Rose, what do you know about leading people?" The woman stiffened a little.

"I know a leader must be brave and decisive on the battlefield, understanding the needs of their soldiers…"

"No." Alexander cut her off.

"I asked what is it that you know about leading people, this doesn't just mean on the battlefield but in day to day life. To help this people farm the land, mine ore, tend to the sick and elderly, craft technology not only for their weapons but also for the betterment of their daily lives." The woman sat silent as Alexander stepped towards them. Another woman spoke up; she had a much softer voice and tone.

"Custodian, how come you haven't tried leaving this world?" He turned towards the woman who spoke; she was a shorter woman with short silver hair like most of the others.

"Leave in what sense? Go back to the time I originally left or leave this planet in general and see if I can make my way back to Terra?" The woman shrugged.

"Both?" Alexander sighed.

"There are a number of reasons why, for one I made a promise to lead these people. Another reason is the possibility that I have no idea what sort of distance I would need to travel which obviously leads to the lack of resources to make a void worthy ship. Though over the years I realized that I also need to take into account is time."

"Time?" He nodded.

"From what information that's been gathered, we've all landed or were transported here via a Warp portal or rift of some kind. The nature of the Warp is one of abstract reality; a day in there could be a thousand years into the future or a year in there a few hours in our reality." Arabella leaned forward.

"So you're suggesting that we're not only lost in where we are but also when?" He nodded.

"I can't prove it but I also can't disprove that as well." She nodded before leaning back in her chair, Alexander studied her face. It was striking in sense that he couldn't quite place a word to it but he couldn't help but stare, her dark blue, almost sapphire like eyes met his and they locked for a moment.

"Custodian if you don't mind me asking, since you know more about this world, can you tell me what were those creatures that attacked not only us but the lesser Daemons of the Prince of Pleasure as well?" Arabella asked and an easy smile spread across his face as he sat down.

"I'll be glad to tell you everything I can but please, call me Alexander."

* * *

 **Many Years Later…**

Alexander Arc set the last of the boxes on the kitchen counter; looking down he could see himself in the reflection of the counter top. He had grown older over the years. At worst he looked to be in his mid-thirties.

His blonde hair had turned silver over the years as he kept it at a short cut that was swept to the right a little. He also had a few laugh lines around his eyes now as well.

His scar from the Fall of Murias had faded a little but was still noticeable if one were to get close to him.

What definitely hadn't change was his physique; he was still eight feet tall. Along with that his body was still fit and toned enough to put most men to shame. He did feel a little slower but not enough to be truly noticeable by anyone but him.

If he could only beat ninety nine men with his bare hands instead of a hundred, so be it. Though it didn't mean he had let his skills grow rusty over the years, he doubt that could ever truly happen. At times it felt like his body itched to be holding a weapon or to be fighting.

So whenever that itch grew he could spend days training, dueling, or forging if that didn't dampen the feeling he would go into the Outlands to fight Grimm. Many people have told him that it was reckless of him to do that but he didn't care. It was something he wanted, no, needed to do.

"You okay?" A soft voice asked behind him and he turned to see Arabella in a grey dress that reached to her ankles standing at the doorway with a bag over her shoulder. She hadn't seemed to age a day since they met.

Though her hair had grown out and now it was tied in a tight bun behind her head. Most noticeably was the fact that her dress bulged out at the midsection, she was pregnant.

"I'm fine, just finally glad to be here after all that time." She laughed softly, it sounded like music to his ears.

"I swear it's a miracle you managed to get anything done on your own sometimes." She said referring to the fact that she had to organize a council of Lords to take on, as she saw it, the trivial business of running a Kingdom.

Before that Alexander had a stack of papers two feet high every week that he would have to go through. Approving, denying, or adjusting the numerous proposition and requests that were sent to him.

"It wasn't that bad." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alexander, you know I love you but that's bullshit, I watched you sit at your desk for a day straight going through paper work before you finally took a break to grab some water. It was not good at all." Alexander shrugged.

"True and at least now I know how Mina learned to swear." Arabella's face flushed little.

"So how many more boxes do we have left?" She asked changing the topic as she looked at the box he had set on the counter.

"This is the last one, now we just have to open them up and organize it." She nodded.

"You can start opening up the boxes and sorting them out, I'm going to adjust the furniture and move the beds upstairs." Alexander tapped her forehead softly.

"Yea, I don't think a pregnant woman should do that so I'll move the furniture and you can organize the boxes." Arabella frowned.

"But that's so boring."

"Well if you really want you can trade places with Areto, she's watching the girls in the backyard." Arabella smiled.

"Deal!" She turned and briskly walked out of the kitchen before Alexander could say anything, he sighed.

"Great."

* * *

 **Later that Night…**

Alexander closed the picture book as he looked down at his sleeping children. If someone had told him when he first arrived here that he would somehow have children, he would have called them insane. He wasn't even sure if he actually could have children when he underwent the grueling process to become who he was now.

Looking down he could see his three children so far were asleep in their beds. The eldest, Katherine was barely eight years old, with Mina being six and five year old Sepherina. Now there was a fourth child on the way into this world.

With their birth he would have thought that his duty as High Lord would become less and less of a priority to him but strangely enough that remained to be untrue.

As much as he wanted to be a devoted father he couldn't help but think of the people he had lost over the years protecting Arcadia. Losing them to the Grimm, the servants of the Ruinous Powers or by his own mistakes, he couldn't forget them.

With those memories he swore to do all that he could to see the day that Arcadia will no longer have to be at war. So he must stay as High Lord until he was no longer suited for the position or died trying.

He knew Arabella would gladly give up complete control of her power in the Kingdom to be a mother to the girls but he couldn't. Was his duty getting in the way of his happiness?

Though the more he thought about it the more the question formed in his mind of whether this was true happiness or a fleeting emotion that had reawaken itself in his subconscious? A hand slid its way onto his right shoulder, looking up he could see Arabella standing next to him in a loose red nightgown.

"Aren't they beautiful?" She whispered looking down at the sleeping girls, he smiled slightly and nodded.

"Well they do take after their mother." Her hand squeeze his shoulder softly as he stood up, turning off a small desk lamp that he had used as he read to them.

The two of them made their way silently into the hall, closing the door to the children's room. Once the door was close they made their way into their own bedroom.

As they got ready for bed Alexander stood at the sink of the adjacent bathroom looking at the scar on his face. He traced it with his thumb; the skin was unnaturally smooth yet uneven.

"Is something wrong?" Arabella asked from behind.

"I don't know." He said as he turned around, Arabella tilted her head a little.

"I've just thinking about how I'm a father and how I should be devoting more of my time to being one. Yet I can't seem to accept that, a part of me feels that it's more important to be High Lord." Arabella stepped closer to him and took his hand with both of her hands. They were cool and smooth but he could feel the strength in them.

"Alexander I've know you feel like that for a while. I could tell the first time we met that you were someone who took his duty very serious. It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with you, at the same time I know you do what you can or have too, not just out of duty but devotion for the people. I also know you won't be a bad father to our kids; you'll always do your best to help them grow. So I won't ask you to pick or chose between me and the kids and your duty as High Lord nor will I abandon the people as well so worry not my dear, I will always be by your side." Arabella said placing his hand on her cheek.

"I love you Alexander Arc." She said after a moment of silence, Alexander could feel a smile grow on his face.

"And I love you Arabella Arc."

* * *

 **Several Months Later…**

Alexander paced in the hallway on the second floor of his home, in the master bedroom Arabella was being attended by Sisters of the Hospitaller.

Katherine, Mina and Sepherina peeked out from their bedroom to watch him. They didn't know exactly what was going on but they knew something was afoot so they stayed at the doorway.

"How is she?" A gravelly voiced asked, Alexander turned to see a grizzled old man in the black and red military dress uniform of the Arcadian Army ascend the stairs. A patchwork of medals and ribbons adorned his left breast. Though the most prominent part was the golden Arc emblem that had a star fitted in the middle of it, pinned to his collar.

"Ah, Lord Commander Gareth, what brings you out here?" The older man saluted with a smile on his face, though only the left half responded as the right side had been thoroughly burned from a fire during the Faunus Rights Revolution.

"Ah well the Council saw fit to come and visit you and Arabella on this auspicious day. I'm just the first to arrive; the others will arrive within the day." Alexander bowed slightly.

"You honor me at visiting." The older man waved his hand dismissively

"Think nothing of it old man." The Lord Commander said and Alexander laughed.

"I'd watch who you call "Old Man" Gareth; some people may think you're talking to yourself. Though with the way you look, I'm sure they'll understand an old man going through a senile moment." The other man laughed in return.

"You're right but those younglings probably won't laugh for long when I'm done with them." Alexander chuckled as put patted his back.

"I remember when you were still a Colonel and you had the top five soldiers of your Division try to fight you in order to win a week long leave pass for the entire Division. I can still see the surprise on their faces when they found themselves on the ground." Gareth chuckled as he shook his head.

"Well if I had to pick something like that for you. I would have to pick the Sentinel Trial after the Faunus Right Revolution where you had the latest initiates of the Praetorians fight you. It was awe inspiring and terrifying to see what you did to them." The laughter died as memories resurfaced.

"It's a shame about what happened to them later." Gareth said his voice quieting down as he noticed the curious eyes of three young girls on him.

"Aye, but it just serves as nothing more than a reminder that we can never be lax when it comes to the Grimm and that goes double for the servants of the Ruinous Powers." Alexander said as he stared at the wall towards the master bedroom. The two men said nothing as they stood there.

"Do you know if it's another girl?" Gareth asked changing the subjects, Alexander shrugged.

"We decided to keep this one a surprise but I hope it's a boy between you and me." Gareth chuckled.

"Aye, the old lady and I stressed about our girl when she was young all the time, I'd hate to imagine what's like for you who already has three girls." Alexander grinned.

"Please, don't remind me of that of all things." The doors to the master bedroom open and Alexander was already at it as a Sister of the Hospitaller stepped out, squeaking in surprise at his sudden appearance in front of her.

"How are they?" Alexander asked and the woman smiled.

"They're fine my Lord, you can come in now." Alexander followed the Sister and saw Arabella sitting up in bed holding their newborn baby in her arms. Perspiration covered her face and her hair looked a little frazzled but she looked absolutely happy. She looked up and beckoned him over; coming up to the side he could see the face of the calm baby in her arms.

"It's a boy." She said flashing a tired smile up at him.

"Really?" Alexander asked breathlessly.

"Here, do you want to hold him?" Arabella asked before she gave the baby over to him and Alexander cradled him gently in his arms.

"What should we name him?" Arabella asked as he sat down next to her. Alexander could only think of one name. A name that held a major significance to his life ever since he found his way here, he smiled.

"Hello Jaune Arc."

* * *

 **Well, well, well, here's the new version of my First Story.**

 **I've been working on this one section ever since I put to rest the First Version. It took me a long time and a lot of drafts to get it to an acceptable point.**

 **Even then it may not be as good as I want it to be but I suppose that's me just being weird.**

 **Anyways let me give a Shout out to TheMightyTeaRex for reading this and suffering my constant questions about what he thought about it.**

 **So then now my turn to bug all of you, how did you like it? Anything you did or didn't like, please let me know in the Review sections or PM if you would like to talk about anything I would really appreciate it.**

 **And if you're unfamiliar with my other story, A Dance of Death, feel free to check that out!**

 **Let me also say that the next chapter is being worked on but I can't give an accurate time frame of it's release.**

 **Anyways, till next time!**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jaune blearily opened his eyes as someone shook him violently. He was vaguely aware that someone was also calling his name, looking up he could see one of his sisters was shaking him awake.

"Leave me alone." He murmured as he pulled his blanket up to his chin and turned to his left were his bed met the wall.

"Ugh, Jaune, Mom's calling you down for breakfast." The exasperated voice of his younger sister Claire drilled into his blissful sleep but he ignored her.

"Fine, be like that." She said and left the room. Jaune could hear her yelling about him not getting up but Jaune didn't care; it was the weekend after graduating high school. He needed to enjoy the small break while he can.

"Jaune!" A new voice yelled as someone jumped on him, effectively ruining any chance to sleep.

He looked up to see the face of his youngest sister looking down at him with a toothy smile, though her upper front teeth were missing so it was pretty amusing to see.

"Good morning Nessa." Jaune said as he stifled a yawn, Nessa poked his chin.

"Mom made waffles!" Nessa replied loudly as she bounced on his bed, she was also holding a plastic bag in her left hand.

"Well you better get down there and have some Nessa; you know Miriya and Helena are going to eat them all." Nessa smiled as she stopped bouncing before reaching into her plastic bag and took out a waffle. The smell wafted towards his nose and he had to admit, it smelled really good.

"They can't eat what's not there." Jaune felt a smile split his face as both of them started to laugh. Sitting up he stretched his neck as Nessa hoped down and sat on his bedside, holding out a waffle for him.

"Thank you." He said as he grabbed it, the waffle was still really warm and just as the two of them were about to bite down, someone cleared their throat. Both of them froze as they looked up at Jaune's doorway.

Arabella Arc stood at the door in a knee length white skirt, with a blue cardigan and white shirt underneath. Her arms were crossed and she was tapping her foot impatiently.

"I was wondering where all the waffles I made had disappeared." She said and Nessa slowly put her waffle back into the bag.

"Nessa, dear, please put those back. The others would like to eat waffles as well." Nessa hopped off his bed and was already halfway to the door before she turned around. She quickly ran up to him and took the waffle out of his hand before finally scurrying out of the room.

"Rest in peace you poor waffle." Jaune said aloud, knowing that it wasn't going to make it back downstairs.

"And I was calling for you mister." Arabella said as she looked at him and Jaune shrugged.

"I was just taking advantage of my day off." She nodded.

"Fair enough but I need you to do something, when you're done then you can do what you please for the day." Jaune sighed.

"Sure, what is it?" She stepped into the room and idly started to tidy the room up. Folding his hoodie and pushing his chair into his desk.

"I need you to go get your father." Jaune tilted his head a little.

"Where is he?"

"In his forge tinkering with whatever it is that he likes to tinker with." Jaune nodded, his dad liked to spend time forging weapons and armor when he's not busy with Arcadia or with training. He talked it over with his sisters a little about why he did that and as far as they could tell he did it when he had something important on his mind.

As his mom left the room, Jaune swung his legs out of bed and stood up. The cool air felt surprisingly nice if not sharp as the heat from his bed disappeared. Looking at the foot of his bed, Jaune walked over to it and started opening drawers to take out some clothes.

With his clothes in hand he headed out into the hallway, the noise of his sisters and mom downstairs was much clearer now. The aroma of food was much more noticeable now as well since it made his stomach growl as he headed down the hallway and opened the bathroom door.

Closing it behind him, he stripped off his clothes and hopped into the shower. He smiled as he couldn't help but have the feeling that today was going to be a good day.

* * *

 **10 Minutes later…**

Jaune walked into the kitchen wearing a pair of white shorts and a black V-neck with his black sneakers. His mom was at the sink cleaning a few dishes and he looked at the center of the room where a black marble island had an assortment of plates on it with food.

Nessa, Helena, Claire, Miriya and his older sister Mina were all sitting around eating food. The plates in front of them were filled with strawberries, blueberries, bananas, a bowl of whip cream, bacon, scrambled eggs, waffles, along with a pitcher of milk and orange juice.

There were also two boxes of Pumpkin Pete's cereal, though one of them was already empty as Jaune sat down at the counter.

"Took your time." Helena said as she munched on a spoonful of Pumpkin Pete's.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jaune said casually as he took the other cereal box and poured it into a white ceramic bowl.

"Jaune are we still going later?" Nessa asked her words muffled since she was chewing on a piece waffle.

"Nessa, don't talk with food in your mouth." Arabella called out and Nessa swallowed it.

"Sorry mom." Jaune chuckled as he leaned over and ruffled her hair much to her displeasure as she straightened it.

"Sure kiddo just let me go get dad after I'm done eating and we can head out afterward." Nessa smiled as she bounced in her chair.

"Wait, where are you two going?" Claire asked from the other side of the counter.

"The creek, Nessa wants to see if she can catch a fairy." Jaune said with an easy smile. Helena and Miriya both started to laugh a little at hearing that.

"I'm telling you, I was this close last time!" Nessa said holding her index and thumb close together, which only made the two of them laugh harder.

"Jaune, be careful with her out there, you know that some people might cause trouble." Claire said her face was far more serious than the other two, Jaune nodded as he glanced over at Nessa. While he did see her as his little sister, she was technically not his biological sister.

She had red hair, gray eyes and red fox ears that were black at the tips, her trait showing that she was a Faunus. Since she was a Faunus though and the nature of where they lived meant that the Arc family had run into more than a few people that had less than pleasant views of her.

Most of them learned that the Arcs didn't tolerate that very well, so whenever they got wind of someone saying an awful thing. His mom and sisters would more than likely pay them a visit that they won't forget.

"Don't worry I won't let anything bad happen to her." Jaune said as he looked back at Claire before quickly finishing his bowl of cereal.

"Alright I'll be back!" He called out as he headed out the kitchen door that led to the backyard. The birds chirped and the cool air nipped at his exposed skin as he stood outside. At the far edge of the backyard was a white wooden fence that separated the house from the nearby forest.

In that forest was where his father was, he had a cleared a small section away from the house to work in relative peace without risking any of the children getting hurt by accident in his forge. Jaune headed towards the fence and opened a small gate that led to the path to his dad.

"And where do you think you're going?" A voice asked from behind him and Jaune much to his embarrassment yelped in surprise. Turning around he could see a woman with silver hair in a dark grey coat, black pant fatigues and boots watching him with her arms crossed.

"What the shit Areto, you scared me." Jaune said as he put a hand to his chest to calm his heart.

"Hmmph, I guess we still need to work on your situational awareness." She said and Jaune shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure you were just did that on purpose besides why would anyone expect to be attacked in their own backyard." Areto furrowed her brow.

"Why would you not expect that? The Creatures of Grimm are an ever present threat even in Arcadia that can kill an entire family without anyone noticing."

"Yea but it's less of a problem in controlled territories and we're in the Kingdom of Vale, so there's bound to be a Huntsman or Huntresses patrolling the areas." Jaune said as he crossed his arms but Areto shook her head.

"We're not in the Kingdom of Vale technically; we're an hour south of where they've marked their territory. Besides that Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't as effective as you may think." Jaune sighed; this wasn't a new conversation that he's been having with Areto lately when he told her about wanting to be a Huntsman.

"Look I know that Huntsman and Huntresses aren't like you or anything that we have in Arcadia but they've helped keep the Grimm at bay here in the Four Kingdoms."

"Maybe but they're no soldiers Jaune, at best their freelancers who just so happen to have a common enemy at worst their vainglorious people who play at being heroes."

"And soldiers and other military people aren't?" Jaune asked slightly exasperated.

"No, we're totally full of ourselves as well Jaune but the only difference is that we accept that about ourselves. We, at least in Arcadia, don't act like we're pure heroes; we understand that the glories we gain can blind us with its luster." Jaune shook his head.

"I think that's an unfair assessment, these people aren't beholden to any government or organization. Sure they're freelancers as you call them but that just means they can chose to act on their own accord and not be bogged down by normal rules and regulations. If you still can't see that then I'll show you that they can be a force of good even more than any army." Areto held a hand up.

"Look Jaune I know you want to do this and honestly I'm all for it if you truly feel like doing this but I'm not the one that you need to convince." Jaune sighed, she was right. The ones he needed to convince would be his family.

There had already been a lot of tension when his oldest sister Katherine had chosen to become a Huntress, much to his parents' dismay.

It seemed as though their parents didn't want any of them to become Huntsmen or Huntresses. As far as Jaune or anyone else in the family knew, his parents just didn't like them, whatever reason they had they weren't sharing with them.

Though in the end they had to reluctantly accept what she did but that just meant that it would be harder for him to convince them.

So Jaune nodded toward Areto and turned back towards the forest to find his dad. Walking through the forest was always a calming experience for him, the smell and sound of nature made him forget the worries of everyday life sometimes.

Though even in this forest the creatures of Grimm were out there waiting for their moment to strike. It was one of the reasons why Areto was with them, she was not only a bodyguard but a trainer and caretaker of the house as well.

However she makes a point to remind everyone that their father and mother could take care of the family alone even if she wasn't there. His mom however did like the extra pair of eyes on the younger girls whenever she was indeed busy.

As he stepped out into a small clearing he could see into the distance that the path lead to a small hill that was devoid of trees on or around it.

There the path ends at the bottom of stone steps that led up to his dad's forge. There wasn't any smoke rising out of the chimney at the top, so Jaune suspected that his father was either done or close to finishing whatever he was working on.

As Jaune reached the steps he froze and spun around to see two black armored Praetorians at the edge of the tree line. Jaune watched as the two Praetorians stood motionless as they no doubt watched him, nodding in their direction he turned away to continue up the hill.

Jaune finally reached the top of the stairs and reached out to grab the door handle of a wooden door that led into the forge but he paused to look over his shoulder once more. The Praetorians were gone now, no doubt returning to their original position in the forest.

Jaune pushed open the door and immediately was hit by a wave of heat. Stepping inside his eyes adjusted to the dimness as he followed the sound of a hammer striking metal.

Within moments he was in the heart of the forge, weapons and armor lined the wall to his right while tools were on his left. Jaune could see a number of well-crafted swords, maces, glaives, and suits of armors.

A large furnace at the far side of the room emitted a considerable heat that made Jaune start to sweat.

Standing off to the side was Alexander Arc; sweat glistened off his body even in the low light as he stood only in pants as he worked. He pulled a sword blade up from a tub of cool water, steam wafted off the blade and he set it on a table to his right.

Jaune could also see the crisscrossing patterns of scars on his father body, to have attained such scars would have meant that his father had seen more than his fair share of fighting. Yet he never really talked about them in detail, always skipping over the question to talk about something else.

"Does your mother want me to come home now?" Alexander asked with his back turned towards Jaune.

"Yea, I don't know what she wants other than that though, probably just wants you to eat something." Jaune said as Alexander put the new blade aside and turned to face him.

"Alright, tell your mom I'll be home soon, just have to clean up here." Jaune nodded as he turned towards the exit.

"Actually, wait." Alexander called out and Jaune stopped to turn to his dad.

"You've completed school now Jaune, do you have any clue on what you would like to do now? If you want I'm sure I can get you into an Officer Candidate School." Jaune shook his head.

"There's no need to do that dad." Alexander nodded.

"Ah so you rather go through enlistment, it's hard and takes a long time to become an officer but I can respect that choice." Jaune held up a hand and shook his head again.

"Wait, that isn't what I mean." Alexander tilted his head a little as he looked at him.

"I don't want to join the military." Jaune clarified as he glanced over at the wall where all the armor and weapons were. He couldn't help but notice a set of white rudimentary plates on the table.

"Ah, is there something that you had in mind Jaune?" Alexander asked and Jaune scrunched up his face in thought.

"I'm not really sure how to say this." Alexander walked up to him and put his hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Jaune, you are my son and I'll support you always with whatever decision that you make." Jaune twitched a little as he took a deep breath.

"Dad, I want to go to Beacon." He said and closed his eyes. He could feel pressure from his dad's hand increasing a little on his shoulder, maybe now wasn't the right time to suggest that.

"So you want to be a Huntsman?" Alexander said, Jaune looked up to see his face devoid of emotion and he nodded.

"Did your sister put that idea in your head?" Alexander asked as he stepped away and leaned against one of the tables and crossed his arms together.

"No, what I do and want are for myself alone not because someone told me." Jaune said and Alexander hummed as he noticed the open implication of what he was trying to say.

"Fair enough, you are your own person." Jaune felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"That being said I will not approve of your decision until you prove to me that you can handle yourself." Jaune blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me, while it's true that over the last few years Areto has given you some training, it takes more than just conditioning to become a soldier let alone a Huntsman." Alexander walked over to the table with the plates on it and picked up a white diamond shaped breastplate.

"I was going to give you these to prepare for your career in the military but I suppose they'll work fine for your goal to be a huntsman." Alexander said and held out the plate for him to take. Jaune took it, the cool metal chest plate felt heavy even in both hands as he looked up from it. Alexander pointed his thumb the other pieces of similar armor.

"These are for you, I'll have Areto bring you a few training swords for you to pick from." Jaune furrowed his brow.

"Training swords?" Alexander nodded.

"I reckon a combat test would be a good show of how well you can learn new skills and you'll have only three months to practice." Jaune's eyes widen.

"Three months!? That won't be enough time for me to get trained properly in anything" Alexander nodded.

"Doesn't matter if you are a soldier or a Huntsman, you do what you can in the time you're given. No exceptions." Alexander handed more of the plates over to Jaune.

"Just so you know, these will only give you minimal protection; they're light weight and only protect a relatively small portion of your body. However if you can prove yourself to me Jaune then I'll get you your own set of armor along with a more permanent weapon." Jaune looked down at the chest piece and rubbed his thumb over the smooth surface.

"What if I don't make the deadline?" He asked looking up to see his father walking away from him.

"Then you'll have to give up your dream of being a Huntsman forever."

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Jaune sat on a large stone rock watching his sisters playing by the creek. Claire and Miriya had come with them to the creek while Helena was stuck at home being tutored by their mom since she was struggling with school work.

"Jaune stop sitting like a loner and join us down here!" Miriya called out to him but he just shook his head.

"Nah I'm good!" Jaune replied as much he wanted to go down and join them he had a lot to think about.

With only three months to train he would be hard pressed in shaping up to a decent physical state, let alone a passable swordsman.

He wasn't out of shape or unfit, in fact he had some pride in having a slim but relatively well toned body. Sure he was far from being the strongest or fastest out there but he was still well above average in physical capability.

But if he compared himself to someone like Areto, he was nothing but a mewling baby. If there was one thing he truly learned when working out with her it was that there was a difference between gym fit and soldier fit.

"Oi, look what we have here!" A voice called out and Jaune snapped his head up to see a two teens coming from behind the trees across from him. One wore ripped up jeans and a long sleeve shirt while his friend wore a loose muscle shirt with baggy jeans.

Jaune frowned when he saw that they had their eyes on his sisters. So he stood up and walked down towards them.

"Say girls, why don't you hang out with us? We can have some real fun out in the trees if ya want." The one with the ripped jeans said, scratching his chest and Jaune could feel the sleaziness ooze off him.

"Wait a minute; they're hanging out with a fucking Faunus." The other man said with a snarl of disgust before spitting to the side. Nessa ran behind Claire and Miriya who backed away from the creek.

"I think it's time for you two to head off now." Jaune called out as he stepped out in front of his sisters and crossed his arms.

"Hey man if you like fucking wild animals that's fine but why don't you let those other two hang with us and we promise to take real good care of them." Jaune felt his eye twitch as a scowl grew on his face.

"I don't think so." One of them looked at him with a sneer of contempt.

"We didn't ask what you think; we're telling you to hand them over." They started to close in on him and he could feel the fear from his sisters.

"Jaune, we gotta go." Miriya said as she grabbed his arm and he quickly turned to them.

"Look I'm gonna deal with these guys but since there's two of them I want you three to run as soon as you can to get help and don't look back." Claire looked at him, outrage evident on her face.

"What about you?" He shook his head.

"I can handle myself but I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you three, so run. Got it?" The three of them nodded as Miriya bent down to pick up Nessa, Claire's eyes widen in horror as her mouth opened to warn him.

Jaune jumped backwards, hurtling into one of the guys as they tried to hit him from behind. The two of them fell to the ground and Jaune immediately rolled off to his right reaching out to grab the other guy's leg tripping him as he tried running past.

"You fucking piece of shit!" The first guy yelled as he grabbed the hair on the back of Jaune's head and punched the side of his head. There was an explosion of pain and his ear started to ring loudly as the guy let go of him in order to stand up. Jaune rolled away and got to his feet only to see another fist sailing towards his face.

Jaune's head snapped back as more pain flashed across his face and he stumbled back, nearly falling onto the ground again as he struggled to keep his footing on the rocks of the embankment. He blinked as he steadied himself again, the two teens laughed.

"Come on kid, you look like you're gonna cry any second now." Jaune took a deep breath to steady himself as he stood up straight again and raised his fists.

"Fuck off." They both frowned before charging him.

Jaune ducked under the first guy's fist and swung upward hitting him in the chin before turning to the second guy as he swung a wide right hook at him. Jaune raised his left arm up to cover the side of his head as he stepped inside the swing and gave a right hook of his own that hit the teen in the jaw.

As he stumbled back the first guy came up from behind and wrapped his arm around Jaune's neck. Jaune tucked his chin in and turned his head to the right to keep the pressure on his neck rather than his throat.

However the second guy was already back swinging for him again, his fist struck the left side of Jaune's face and again his vision exploded white with pain. He wasn't done as he immediately followed up with a second and third strike.

Jaune lashed out with a foot catching the teen in the groin. Yelling in pain he fell back as the second dragged Jaune back, he needed to think of something quick. He kicked backward and must have hit the other teen's leg as Jaune found himself being dragged to the ground.

The pressure around his neck however had loosened up enough that he was able to pry the arm off him as he rolled away again. Getting to his hands and knees he could practically feel his left eye swell up.

"That's it you little shit, you're fucking dead." The second teen said as he got up to his feet, Jaune looked over to see him pulling out a switchblade.

Jaune felt his heart sink at seeing the blade. As the teen got closer, Jaune tried to get to his feet, he needed to fight back and win. However the first teen was finally back up and kicked Jaune's head.

The next thing he knew was that he was lying on the cold wet ground and one of the teens was screaming his head off in absolute pain. Turning his head he could see the teen that had the switchblade was on the ground clutching his arm.

Jaune could see three blades embedded in his forearm. The other guy was kneeling with his hands behind his head; Areto was standing to his right with her longsword pointed under his chin at his throat.

"Easy there Jaune." A deep but gentle voice said and he looked up to see his dad.

"Sup." He croaked out, the older man chuckle but Jaune had already passed out.

* * *

 **Three hours later…**

The first thing Jaune was aware of was pain, the pain in his face and head. Taking a deep breath he released it as he opened his eyes.

His left eye still wasn't opening fully and his bottom lip felt really stiff. Poking it with his tongue he winced at the stinging pain that was followed by a copper taste.

He was back in his room but the lights were off so the only illumination was coming through the window but it was muted by the drawn curtains.

"Jaune?!" A voice that practically sounded like thunder rang out and he winced as his mother came into view. She had been sitting silently to the side watching over him.

"Hey mom." Jaune said as he tried to sit up despite his head protesting the movement.

"Don't strain yourself honey." She said as she rubbed his back softly with one hand then held out a glass of water.

"Here drink this." Jaune took hold of the glass and drank it, the cool water soothing his headache from a hard beat to a soft tapping.

"I was really worried about you Jaune." Arabella said after a few moments of silence while Jaune finished the rest of the water.

"I'm sorry." Jaune said, unsure of how to approach this.

"I mean when your father brought you in with a swollen eye, a bloody nose and lip I felt the urge to find those boys and given them a piece of my mind." Jaune couldn't help but chuckle.

"But then the fear took root." She said softly and Jaune stopped chuckling.

"My baby boy was beaten and unconscious in his father's arms. It's been a long time since I had a true fear about losing any of you." Jaune looked down at his hands to see that there were scraps on his knuckles.

"I'm sorry." He said but his mother drew her arm around him, resting her smooth and cool hand on his cheek before pulling him close to her.

"It's okay Jaune, you may have gotten really hurt out there but you did it for a good reason. If you hadn't sent your sisters to get help something might have happened to them if they stayed there." Jaune closed his eyes, welcoming the relief it gave him to hear that.

"I'm proud of you."

* * *

 **An Hour Later…**

Jaune was finally pushing himself out of bed when Alexander opened the door. His dad looked tired as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"You look as tired as I feel." Jaune remarked as he stretched his back, Alexander sighed.

"Well I just told your mother about our deal earlier so let's just say she wasn't very thrilled to hear about it." Jaune felt a grin spread across his face as he looked at his dad again but it fell when he saw how serious he looked.

"Oh." The image of his short mother lecturing the towering figure of his dad was amusing but he knew better than to show it on his face.

"I'm sure you find that funny but let's move on." Alexander said interrupting his thoughts and moved over to Jaune's desk to sit in his chair. Jaune winced at hearing the wood strain as his dad sat down.

"I'm not sure whether I should lecture you for being incredibly stupid or praise you for being brave enough to stand alone to let your sisters get home." Jaune felt his face heat up a little but Alexander held up his hand.

"I suppose in the end you're just stupidly brave however I must ask now. Do you still want to stick with our bargain?" Jaune blinked in surprise, he wasn't expecting that.

"Of course I want stick with it, I haven't even started in fact why would I quit now?" Alexander sighed.

"Because now you've gotten an unintentional glimpse of what life if going to be for you these coming weeks Jaune, pain will become a normal occurrence so I want you to think carefully on your answer."

"Oh."

"So knowing that, do you still think you can go on? If you say yes than once Monday comes around you'll be starting the training but if you say no then I won't fault you with that. Your mother and I will support you with whatever decision." Jaune shook his head.

"I still want to do it." Alexander nodded as he stood up again.

"I had a feeling you'd say that." He said before walking up to Jaune and held out a hand. Jaune looked down at it and blinked before grasping it. Looking up at his dad he could see the smile on his face.

"I proud of what you did out there Jaune, don't you ever forget that." Jaune nodded as the door swung open. Claire, Helena, Miriya, and Nessa stormed into his room.

"Jaune are you okay!"

"What were you thinking?!"

"Are you feeling better?" Everyone started yelling while Nessa jumped at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist as she cried into his shirt. Helena, Claire and Miriya crowded around him as they poured question after question while fussing over his face.

"Wanna help me out here?" Jaune asked as he looked to his father but Alexander grinned.

"This is your first lesson; learn to handle the emotions of those you love when you're injured." Jaune watched as Alexander left the five of them alone. He reached down to rub the top of Nessa's head as she cried, apologizing over and over again.

"Nessa, look at me." The young Faunus girl didn't look up at him as she just shook her head.

"Pretty please?" He asked raising his voice higher, much to chagrin he was able to do that easily but at this moment he was more than willing to live with it.

The younger girl finally let go of him and stepped back, he winced a little to see that her grey eyes were puffy from crying with a slightly runny nose.

"I'm s-s-sorry Jaune." The younger girl said as she rubbed one eye with a tiny fist but Jaune knelt down as he took hold of her hand and smiled at her.

"Hey kiddo, there's nothing to apologize for. I did what I wanted to do and that was protecting you girls." She sniffed.

"But you got hurt." Jaune shook his head.

"It doesn't matter to me, I found gladly go through that again if it meant that you stay safe. So cheer up little one." Nessa sniffed again before hugging him.

"Well it matters to us Jaune; you could have gotten really hurt." Claire said crossing her arms in a clear sign of displeasure, Jaune sighed.

"I guess I just felt like I should stand my ground, people like that only learn by one method."

"But those same people know how only to act violently and from where I'm standing, it would have been just as likely to find you face down in the creek as it would have been finding you beat up like that." Helena chimed in.

"I understand your fear Helena I was fully aware something like that could have happened but I was prepared for it." Helena scoffed as Miriya grabbed his arm, the look of rage evident in her eyes.

"Bullshit, you look like crap Jaune." She said as she dragged him over to the full length sliding mirror of his closet. Jaune could see how bruised and battered he was but he just grinned.

"I swear if you don't wipe that stupid grin off your face, you're gonna be out cold for another three hours." Jaune did his best to fight down the grin, though it was clear that Miriya was stilled annoyed.

"For it's worth Jaune you did an amazing thing today but you should really get some training from Areto or even mom to put up a better fight." Claire said as he walked up behind him and patted his shoulder.

"Well from what I heard going on between Dad and Mom that's already going to be the case." Helena remarked Claire and Miriya looked back at her before looking at him again.

"What?" Claire asked and Jaune sighed.

"Dad and I have a deal; I train for a few months and pass a test or something in order to go to Beacon." All of them looked at Jaune in surprise.

"What? Isn't that what you heard from Mom and Dad Helena?" Jaune asked but the other girl shook her head.

"All I heard was Dad having Areto giving you fighting lessons." Miriya gripped Jaune's shoulders and turned him to face her.

"You're becoming a Huntsman?" Jaune nodded.

"Yea?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Why?"

"Why not? I want to help people but I want to be free to go where I want and do what I want which I wouldn't be able to do if I listened to dad and joined the Arcadian Military." Miriya let go of him and shook her head.

"You're just like Katherine, so fucking desperate to be unique with your rebellious phases that it's pathetic." Jaune narrowed his eyes as the others looked between them, Nessa running to hide behind Claire.

"Guys I think…" Claire began but Jaune cut her off.

"What's your problem Miriya? I'm not doing this to spite mom or dad I just want to freedom to choose what I want to do with my life."

"You can do that in Arcadia as well Jaune; they fight the Grimm just as much as the Four Kingdoms and the Huntsmen." Jaune shook his head.

"Arcadia hasn't involved itself with the Four Kingdoms in decades Miriya; we're nothing but an isolated Kingdom that squanders our strength by not offering assistance to the Four Kingdoms. If we actually cared we would lend our strength to the other Kingdoms to help them grow."

"That's an infantile response Jaune and you know it. The Four Kingdoms want nothing to do with us since the Great War; they ostracized us, not the other way around. Not only that they're not exactly paragons of virtue, we weren't even invited to the Vytal Accords and we had to step in on the Faunus side during the Faunus Rights Revolution even then they didn't see us as allies. "

"It doesn't have to be like that Miriya; we can make a difference out there, we can change things for better."

"Idealism may be fine for you Jaune but from where I'm standing once idealism meets reality it's easily as forgotten as any other dream."

"Then it's our job to make idealism become the new reality." Miriya looked him in the eye and Jaune expected to see anger but all he saw in her eyes was sadness.

"Then you're gonna be chasing a dream till the day you die."

* * *

 **Monday Morning…**

Jaune nearly collapsed to the ground breathing hard; he was covered in sweat that drenched most of his shirt. The cool air burned in his lungs as he steadied himself.

Looking up he could see that the sky was starting to brighten up as the sun came up from the horizon. Yet he had already been outside for nearly three hours.

Areto had woken him up a little before five to get dress and meet her in the backyard to start their training.

Immediately she had started him off by stretching his body. Afterwards she had him do ten sets of thirty lunges, followed by ten sets of twenty five pushups, when he finished with that he did two hundred sit-ups.

When he finally pulled himself up she allowed a few minutes for him to rest before handing him a weighted vest. Then the two of them did a twelve kilometer run through the woods, by the time they made it back Areto was barely even winded while Jaune felt like he was going to die.

"You're doing good Jaune." Areto called out as she walked up to him with a two water bottles. She held one out and Jaune took it then began drinking it slowly.

"Why are we doing this? I thought you were teaching me how to fight?" Jaune asked as he swallowed another mouthful of water.

"Well before we can start fighting we need to improve your stamina, endurance and strength. So that is what we'll be focusing on this for the first two weeks, afterwards I'll start giving you weapons training." Areto said as she set her water bottle on the ground and clapped her hands together.

"Alright let's continue."

* * *

 **Two Weeks Later…**

It was already the afternoon when Areto decided it was time to change from working on his body to using a weapon.

Jaune felt elated as he watched Areto disappear to bring out the weapons. His body ached all over but he had noticed an improvement in it nonetheless. He was able to do most of the exercises twice over now without getting winded.

Though that didn't mean he was better than Areto. Every time she did the exercise with him she would beat him both in the speed and number of repetitions. Then when they did their running through the forest he still found it difficult to keep pace with her.

"Try not to overdo the training." Another voice said behind him and Jaune spun to see Arabella standing with a tray that had two glasses of lemonade on it.

"I'm fine." Jaune said and she laughed softly.

"I'm sure you are Jaune but trust me, if you push yourself too much you'll do more damage than good. If your body isn't given time to recover properly it will start breaking down then you'll be forced to rest anyways." Jaune sighed.

"I know but what else can I do? I don't have a lot of time before dads test and if I fail then I won't be able to become a Huntsman." Arabella gave him a sad smile.

"Is it really that important to win?" Jaune nodded.

"Yes." Arabella nodded.

"Then know that your sisters and I are behind you no matter what happens." She said before turning away to head back into the house. Jaune however slowly unclenched his fist; it was starting to get on his nerves at how it seems that no one in his family really thought he could become a Huntsman.

"Jaune?" He snapped his head around to see Areto walking up to him carrying a wooden shield and a bundle of what appeared to be swords in a sack.

"You looked a little tense there kid, everything alright?" Areto asked eyeing him as she set down the items.

"I'm fine." She gave him a blank stare.

"Don't lie to me Jaune; I'll make you run for the rest of the day." Jaune sighed.

"I was just thinking about what's going to happen when my training is over, am I going to be stuck doing what my dad wants me to? Or will I be able to do what I feel is the right thing for me?" Areto's face softened.

"You'll be fine Jaune, as long as your heart is in it I'm sure things will turn out in your favor." Jaune nodded as Areto started pulling sheathed swords from the bag and laying them out on a nearby table next to the lemonade.

"Alright so you've got a couple of choices, pick them up and unsheathe them, then tell me how they feel." Jaune picked up the first sword; it had a grey handle with a golden pommel and cross guard. Pulling it out of its sheath the sword was roughly four feet in total length.

"Now point it forward." Areto said gesturing to his right, he did has she said and he noticed that the sword felt heavy at the end as it was starting to dip.

"How does it feel?"

"It's a bit heavy at the end." Areto nodded as she took up another sword and pulled it out of its sheath. Gripping it with two hands she held it over head as she faced away from him with her right leg placed forward.

"Now watch what I'm about to do." She said, Jaune walked to her left and stood back watching. She swung downward with the sword and Jaune was awed to see how fast the blade went from above her head to straight in front of her despite him watching her.

"See my hands and my feet?" She asked turning her head over to look at him and Jaune nodded.

"I want you to try that." Jaune assumed the position; Areto adjusted his shoulders and feet before standing back.

"Alright, begin." Jaune swung down and he could feel the shift of his grip on the sword as it moved, the sword's weight was too off balanced for him. Areto clicked her tongue at seeing him swing the weapon.

"So, how did it feel?" She asked, Jaune sighed as he slid the sword back into its sheath.

"I don't like the feel, even gripping it tightly I had a hard time controlling it." Areto nodding as if she already knew the answer, she picked up another sheath. This one looked surprisingly familiar; it was a white scabbard with a gold trim and detail.

"As much as I want to stand here watching you try out swords, I'm going to skip to this one just to get it over it."

"Wait a minute, isn't this…"

"Crocea Mors? Yes." Jaune looked up at her.

"But why? Doesn't this belong to my mom?" Areto nodded with a knowing smile.

"Let's just say this is her way of approval for your training, when the time comes you'll need a weapon of your own but for now this is yours to use." Jaune wasn't sure what to say about this. Crocea Mors was created a long time ago before even the Great War, though his parents never told him much else other that his father had given it to his mother as a gift some time into their relationship.

"I'm not sure what to say." Jaune said as he gripped the blue handle and pulled the sword out. It felt light but not too light, he could tell that he was holding something that could kill someone in his hand.

"Alright get into position." Areto ordered and Jaune did his best to get into the stance that she had showed him; again she did what seemed like miniscule corrections to his posture.

"Commence." She ordered as she stepped back and Jaune swung down. There was a slightly whistling sound as he swung the sword and stopped it, though he was glad to note that it didn't feel off as before.

"So?" Areto asked and he looked at her with a grin.

"Much better." She nodded.

"Alright, let's do some drills."

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Jaune stepped out of the bathroom refreshed a little from the day's training, walking down the hallway he headed into his room. Spreading his towel on the back of his chair, he collapsed onto his bed.

The cool feeling of his sheets against his skin brought forth the dull ache in his body. Even his stomach rumbled a little but Jaune was too content on his bed to get up and head downstairs.

Even then dinner had ended almost two hours ago and his mom had started just leaving out a plastic container with leftover food for him to eat. He was about to close his eyes when there was a knock at the door.

"Jaune?" It was his mom.

"Yea?"

"You haven't come down to eat yet, I can still warm up your food for you?"

"What is it?" Jaune asked as he propped himself up on his elbows, Arabella was standing at the doorway with a smile on her face.

"It's a chicken and rice casserole." Jaune thought about it and his stomached rumbled loudly in response and his mother laughed a little.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jaune smiled as well.

"Alright, I'll be down in a minute." Arabella nodded as she left and Jaune slowly got to his feet before stretching his limbs. Walking out of his room, the smell of food wafted to his nose making his stomach clench in desire to be full.

Heading downstairs he saw Nessa with Areto playing thumb war, Areto was obviously letting the much younger girl win but it was still an interesting sight.

"Still up little brother?" A voice asked from his right and he looked to see his older sister Mina standing at the kitchen door holding a steaming mug.

"Oh hey sis, how was work today?" The older Arc sister shrugged.

"Ah you know, busy, people taking too long to order, being rude, that sort of thing." Jaune nodded slowly as he walked past her to get a cup of water.

"That must suck; I doubt I would ever be able to run a shop like yours." Mina started to laugh a little and Jaune turned to see her looking at him with a funny expression.

"What?"

"Actually someone interesting did come by?" Jaune frowned.

"Who?" Mina smiled.

"Why it was your good friend Myrna Rosewood." Jaune didn't say anything as he stared at the ground but before Mina could say anything someone appeared next to her.

"Did I hear grandkids?" Arabella asked, Mina, Jaune, Areto and Nessa looked at her confused.

"Uh, no mom, we didn't mention anything about grandkids." Mina said and Arabella looked briefly upset but smiled.

"Oh, well, how was your training today Jaune?" Arabella asked, changing the topic, Jaune glanced over at Areto who had turned away.

"It was fine, a bit swore but I'm learning a lot." His mother smiled.

"That's good to hear, how do you like Crocea Mors?" Jaune felt a smile grow on his own face and without saying anything he walked over to hug her.

"It's amazing, thank you mom." The moment didn't last as Alexander walked into the kitchen and saw them.

"Jaune." Alexander said and Jaune let go of his mother to look up at his father.

"If you're not practicing shouldn't you be resting up?" He said in a flat voice, Jaune stiffened a little but nodded.

"I know but I was just thanking mom for lending me her sword to train with." Alexander didn't glance over as he washed his hands.

"Fair enough but you still only have a short amount of time before your deadline, may I remind you that if you're not ready by then you'll have to give up your dream of being a Huntsman." Mina frowned.

"Come on dad, he's been training real hard, let him have an hour or two to himself."

"No." Alexander said firmly as he finally turned around.

"He's made his choice; let him handle it as anyone else would in his position. Sink or swim Jaune it doesn't matter but give it your all, do you understand me?" Alexander said staring down Jaune who nodded and headed upstairs. Arabella and Mina looked towards him, both obviously not happy while Areto lead Nessa back upstairs to her room.

"What was that about? Why are you being so hard on him?" Mina pressed again but Alexander sighed as he reached up to a cabinet that only he could reach and pulled out a crystal decanter with an amber red fluid in it. Opening it up, he set it aside as he pulled out a squat clear glass.

"I'm doing this because I'm worried." Alexander said as he filled the cup halfway and took a quick sip.

"Worried?" Mina said as she wrinkled her nose.

"Yes, worried why wouldn't I be worried?" Mina opened and closed her mouth a few times before responding.

"What you did right now, can't you see he's exhausted? He's pushing himself too hard, if you make him do nothing but training all day he's going to break, if not physically then mentally."

"I know that, which is why I sent him upstairs." Mina narrowed her eyes, Alexander turned to look at her.

"Do you think I'm blind Mina? I know my children almost as much as I know myself. I know you're annoyed by the way you're narrowing your eyes and popping your knuckles softly with your thumb. I know that you've always enjoyed baking as Sepherina has always enjoyed teaching, I know Helena has a mechanics mind while Claire is good at drawing and Miriya enjoys tending to that flower she has at her window. I know Nessa enjoys spending time with us all and loves to roam the forest even when we tell her not to. I also know that Jaune's desire to become a Huntsman is in part to show that he can do something and help those around him. I know of all these things about my children and I love them all." Alexander and no one spoke at first.

"And Katherine?" Arabella asked quietly, Mina looked between her parents but was surprised to see her father not looking at her.

"I understand why she chose her path as well." Alexander said quietly before looking at Arabella.

"However the difference between her and Jaune is what they actually know. Katherine is an intelligent young lady and despite her career choice I told her about things that I wish I had not, the same with you and your sister Sepherina." Mina frowned, she remembered what he was talking about, and it had been an interesting yet horrifying day of conversation many years ago.

"Alexander is there something you want to tell us." Arabella said as she stepped closer to him, he reached up and stroked her cheek with his thumb, smiling softly.

"Indeed but it can wait for another time." She frowned a little but Alexander ignored it as he looked back at Mina.

"I have to leave tomorrow, which is why I wanted to light a fire under Jaune one last time before I left." Mina nodded slowly running her tongue over her teeth a little as she thought what could drag him away from home.

"When will you be back?" Mina asked as she quickly emptied the cooling contents of coffee that was in her cup.

"I'm not sure, there's a number of things I need to take care of, till then listen to your mother and let Areto continue training Jaune as I instructed, no matter what." Alexander said as he finished his glass, looking out the window he could see nothing but darkness. He could see the looks of confusion and disappoint on Arabella's and Mina's face but it was necessary.

A storm was brewing; he could feel it in every fiber of his being. A storm that would change the landscape of Remnant, whether it was for good or worse, he wasn't sure but he had to be ready. Not just for Arcadia's sake but for his family as well.

* * *

 **Three Weeks Later…**

Jaune smashed the incoming sword to the side with his kite shield, quickly following up with a counter thrust of his own. However Areto was already ducking beneath the blade and spinning to his right, her sword coming back around to strike at his knee.

Shifting his body he stabbed downward with his sword again just in time to block the strike but he didn't account for Areto head-butting him in the jaw.

Stumbling back, he worked his jaw as Areto stood up straight again. Without saying a word she lunge forward quick as a snake and Jaune angled his shield to the right in order to deflect her sword off it while returning with an overhead jabbed aimed downwards with his sword.

Areto however had already moved aside avoiding the blade and jumped back as Jaune quickly followed up with a backhand slash.

Pressing forward he stabbed with his sword then quickly slashed at Areto stomach as she jumped to the side. Knocking his blade aside she attacked with a return swing coming from his right, using the edge of his shield he punched the blade with the edge, knocking it back while leaning forward he jumped at her.

Hoping to use the shield to bash her, he would have quickly followed with another thrust had she not nimbly twisted to his left. Spinning around she launched a high kick at him but it wasn't truly aimed at him but his shield. The edge of her leather boot caught on Jaune's shield throwing him off balance.

Not wanting to roll onto his very sharp sword, he let go of it as he rolled on the ground and got up to his feet weaponless. Areto stooped down and picked up his sword with her left hand. Now she stood across from him with two longsword while he only had a shield.

Most people wouldn't pick two longswords as weapons to dual wield with, however Areto was one of the few that Jaune knew that apparently can do such a thing while still being highly lethal.

Slipping the shield off his left arm, he switched it to his right just as Areto lunged at him. His own blade flashing downward towards him, swinging his shield up to meet the blade as it descended on him. In the corner of his eye he could see the other sword racing towards him as she jabbed it towards him.

Bringing the shield down, he pinned it to the dirt, only to realize that was a mistake. Areto's fist smashed into his jaw again and he stumbled to his right. Only bringing his shield up in time to intercept the tip of Crocea Mors's blade, a sharp vibration traveled up his arm before pain exploded in his left thigh as she struck it with her sword.

Had it been a real sword instead of a training sword, then he would have had a long bloody incision in his leg.

"Focus!" Areto snarled as she appeared on his left, striking downward with her sword and hitting his right forearm before spinning backwards into a low crouch, she hit him in the back of his left calf this time. Jaune's left leg gave out with the strike and as he fell to his knee, he could feel the cold edge of Areto's blunted training sword at his throat.

"I yield." Jaune said slowly, only to wince as Areto smacked him lightly atop of his head with her blunt blade.

"You're reacting too slowly; you can't over think this Jaune. If you're more focused on what you could do then you'll miss out on what you should do." Areto said as she stuck his sword into the ground next to him.

"I know Areto and I'm trying but it's not easy for me, if I don't think then I don't know what I should do at all." Jaune said with a heavy sigh as stood up, wincing a little at the soreness in his leg. He was sure there would be an ugly bruise amongst the many others he had earned so far. Areto glared at him coldly, a shiver travelling down his back. If there was one thing that Areto hated it was excuses.

"Then keep practicing till you no longer have to think, practice till your body is heavy from exhaustion and all you can dream about is swordplay." Jaune nodded stoically, he knew that Areto was just looking out for him. He didn't have long until the deadline his father had set for him.

So every day Jaune woke up at four and trained his body, his skill with Crocea Mors, or his mind. Areto had upon instruction from his father had also set aside an hour after the end of their training session at nine to tutor Jaune on small unit tactics.

They were mostly based upon Arcadia Military history when vital moments of whole battles and campaigns rested on the shoulders of Arcadian Special Forces, the Praetorians or other elite units. Upon which she would quiz or ask him about his thoughts about they could have done or should have done in cases where they failed.

He did fine in that mostly, there were a few things that he fumbled with but that was just his gap in knowledge from a lack of experience. Training his body was becoming more and more easy, he was able to keep up with Areto for much longer now, even when she adds either more weights to his body or run a farther distance than the day before.

The only area he seems to struggle in is his swordsmanship. While he understood the fundamentals of what he should do, he couldn't quite make the decision on the fly when he dueled with Areto. He would strike when he should have blocked or blocked instead of pressing the attack.

"You're shield work is improving, though there's still room to quicken your reaction time but that just takes time which we can't afford to dedicate. No, if anything you're incapable of using your sword properly. You let go of your sword during this last fight and that's why you lost." She remarked before tossing a metal water bottle at him.

"I wouldn't say it was just that." Jaune said after taking several seconds to take a long swig of the bottle.

"You're also faster, more skilled and in general more experienced than me." Areto frowned.

"So? The Grimm are faster and stronger than most people as well, does that stop us from defending ourselves, has that speed and ferocity cowed Mankind and the Faunus? Do not give me that fucking bullshit about why you lost Jaune Arc; you have to keep trying no matter what. So letting go of your sword because you're scared you might cut yourself will only get you killed for real on the battlefield." Jaune said nothing as he slowly lowered his bottle.

"Now get ready." Areto said gripping her training sword again with both hands.

"Areto!? Wait!?" Jaune didn't get a word in edgewise as he pulled Crocea Mors out just in time to intercept the blade. Gripping his sheathe with his other hand he jabbed it into Areto's chest sending her stumbling back a few steps, much to his surprise and dismay; he could see her chest jiggle a little. She looked up at him with a stony face, seeing where his eyes had lingered for a few seconds.

"Crap."

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Jaune slowly eased himself down onto his bed; the coolness of his sheets brought a wave of relief to his aching body and his bare torso. He never understood why some people enjoyed going to sleep shirtless or with muscle shirts but now he did.

He still had to be honest that he would have much preferred to be wearing his bunny onesie that Nessa had gotten for him a few years ago. Helena, Claire, Miriya and Mina thought he would have been embarrassed in it but much to their chagrin he liked it.

Sighing he rested his head against his pillow and closed his eyes but he could not sleep. No, sleep eluded him as he couldn't help but think about when his father might return.

He had apparently left on some urgent business that eventually called his mom away from home as well. Which she brought in their aunt Lilly to help watch over the household while she was away.

Neither of his parents had told them why they had left but he knew and so did his sisters that it was serious, save Nessa who was too young to truly understand.

Something had happened in Arcadia, it was the only explanation as his mother rarely was called in unless there was something important going on. She had all but abdicated her position to their other aunt Sanian to watch over while she stayed here with them.

Now what exactly was happening, he had no true answer but could think of a few things that might have happened. A natural disaster could have occurred but then they would have explained that instead of leaving without a word.

An economic crisis on the other hand would have called away his father but it didn't have much concern in regards for his mother so that was ruled out.

Rebellion or a mutiny of some sort might be a possibility but Jaune couldn't remember the last time there was actually any discontent in the Kingdom to warrant that.

This only left warfare as an option. If a major Grimm Horde invaded then this would be something that required both of their attention as major hordes of Grimm have broken the defensive lines of Arcadia more than once. Hundreds of thousands died each time that happened, not only did the death toll of the fighting have an effect on the people but the aftermath as well.

Diseases tended to run rampart as clean water, food, medical and proper housing weren't enough to handle the load of refugees. Along with that the cleanup and reconstruction of towns, cities, and military positions took months if not even years to bring to full operation.

"Jaune?" There was a knock at his door and he propped himself up on his elbows, it was his Aunt.

"Yea?"

"You've got a guest." She said, Jaune frowned, who would come to visit him at this time of night?

That was answered when the door opened and a girl stepped into his room.

She was five and a half feet tall with loose curls of raven black hair, creamy skin, a button nose and violet eyes. The girl wore a black summer's dress that reached halfway down her thighs, which revealed shapely pale legs then heeled boots. It was his only friend, Myrna Rosewood, a girl who he's known since the start of High School.

"Uh, hey Myrna, what brings you here?" Jaune asked, his voice cracking a little as he realized that he still didn't have a shirt on.

"Oh, I thought that I would just, uh, visit and hangout." Myrna said her voice trailing away as she looked at his bruised covered torso.

"Jaune!? What happened to you!?" Myrna said as she stepped closer to him. Jaune looked at a nearby mirror; his torso had several dark bruises while his forearms had a trio of large purplish bruises on his chest as well.

"Nothing." Jaune said with a blank expression on his face, he didn't want to tell her about his training as it would raise too many questions. His family always did its best to hide their true identity, revealing it now wouldn't be the wisest thing for him.

"Are you getting bullied again?" She asked quietly as she sat on his bedside looking down at him. Jaune could smell the scent of strawberries coming off her. It was a pleasant smell to say at least, she reached out and placed her hand on his stomach. The warmth contrasting with the coolness of his bed sheets against his back.

Her violet eyes stared into his and Jaune could almost sense that longing in them as they stared at each other. Unsure of what to do, he was the first to look away.

"Jaune, how come we don't hang out anymore?" Myrna asked but he said nothing as he didn't know what to say.

"We're, friends, aren't we?" The way she said that made Jaune paused as he knew what she meant.

"Jaune, please, say something."

"Yes, we're friends Myrna." He rasped out, her hand started to move up and down his torso. Every time her warm hand passed over a bruise his eye would twitch as he didn't want to twitch his body since it would upset her.

"Jaune, how come we never got together?" And there it was.

"Myrna, please." He said but she pressed down a little hard to keep him from sitting up fully.

"No Jaune, I confessed to you during Prom when I found you sitting outside the gymnasium in the bleachers after being rejected again by Roxanna but you have to realize that it just wasn't meant to be, she had no interest in you and she probably never will. This to me means that she didn't deserve you, I know you far better than her and I know you're kind, funny, and loyal to your friends and family. I can see all the great things about you Jaune that others can't." Jaune closed his eyes.

"But you also can't see the flaws in me." He whispered.

"What?" Myrna asked.

"You're my friend Myrna and I'd do anything for my friends but I can't help you on this. This is beyond me." He said as he leaned back, welcoming the cool relief of the bed in comparison to her heated hands.

"I…I don't get what you're trying to say Jaune." Her voice was starting to crack a little.

"Is it because you still want to be a Huntsman?" Jaune stayed silent as Myrna crawled onto him, her hair brushing against his chest as she leaned over him.

"Jaune please, you're going to get hurt or worse. It's too late to become a Huntsman, I know you've worked hard and anyone can see that if they take a look at you now but for my sake and yours, you have to stop. You can become a chef, you're really good at cooking, just please stop this." Myrna pleaded with him but he didn't look her in the eyes, instead closing his own.

"I can't, this is something I need to do." Myrna gripped Jaune's wrists.

"No it isn't Jaune, please stay with me." She leaned closer to him with her eyes closed; he could feel his heart start to beat rapidly. Her rose colored lips came closer but before they met his, Jaune turned his head to the side. Myrna kissed his cheek and realized what had happened, she leaned away.

"Why?" She asked in a soft voice, Jaune could feel his heart break at the quiver he could hear.

"I'm sorry Myrna, it's for the best." Instead of replying she kissed his cheek again before whispering in his ear.

"My family isn't home for the next few days, visit me please." Jaune said nothing as she walked out of his room, stopping to look at him one last time before finally leaving.

Jaune groaned loudly.

"What's up bro? What did Myrna want with you?" Helena's voice called out as Jaune pressed his palms against his eyes.

"Don't be dense Helena; obviously she came here to confess her love." Claire's voice said with a hint of mirth.

"Why don't you stop being stupid Claire, she was on the verge of having a full panic attack." Helena snapped back.

"Really? Holy shit Jaune, did you turn her down?!" Claire asked, directing her attention back to him.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." He called out but knew that was a mistake as the door swung open, hitting his wall loudly.

"Jaune, if you don't cut that shit out right now I'm going to ask Areto to beat you up even harder tomorrow." Helena said to which Jaune chuckled a little.

"If she beat me any harder I'd die."

"So what happened?" Claire asked her voice more serious but Jaune didn't look at her.

"Look you've already guessed it, she confessed and I can't reciprocate her feelings."

"Okay, but why?" Claire asked.

"It's like this; her feelings for me aren't taking into account what I may feel. She needs me as an emotional crutch, nothing more."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Helena asked but Jaune snorted.

"I think it's harsh that a girl, whom I consider a dear friend, has absolutely no faith in my dreams or aspirations. She doesn't want me to leave her alone because she thinks I'm weak. How can I reciprocate feelings which belong to someone who would force me from what I need to do?"

"Maybe it's selfish to chase after something that can or should never happen." Claire said softly.

"Get out." Jaune said simply.

"But…" Claire started to say but Jaune interrupted her.

"Out." His sisters left him alone and Jaune sighed as he quickly stood up to turn the lights off. The room plunged into darkness and he navigated his room towards his bed.

Laying back down on it he waited for a blissful, dreamless, sleep to take over.

But it never came.

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

"Focus!" Areto snarled as Jaune barely parried another strike from her sword only to get knocked off his feet as she kicked his legs out from under him.

Rolling backwards he got to his feet again only to see Areto's sword closing in on him in a thrust. Swinging his blade now, he knocked it to the left then immediately braced with his shield. Instead of attacking again Areto spun with the momentum of her blade to his left, pushing forward he blocked one quick strike from her blade with his shield.

Shifting into a crouch he blocked the next strike as it came round in an diagonal overhead swing then immediately lashed with a short thrust of his own. However Areto had jumped over him, Jaune twisted around with his shield raised to protect his torso from a strike he was surprised to see she had already moved.

Circling around to his left, she sent a short jab followed by two quick slashes that he barely managed to block. However he was unable to send a proper counter attack as Areto practically danced around him, striking in one direction then immediately moving away only to come back in from another angle.

Jaune could feel the burn in his lungs as he struggled to keep up with her. Areto pressed in on him, alternating with the sword and shield, Jaune blocked or deflected her strikes.

Hammering her blade to the side with his shield, Jaune finally found the opening he was looking for. He swung down with his blade but Areto sidestepped, not wanting to give her a chance to break contact. Jaune quickly swung horizontally but she leaned backwards, her head almost touching the ground as the blade passed over her.

He knew he didn't have the time to bring the blade back to strike her, so instead he lunged forward with his shield to knock her off balance. Instead she pivoted into his guard, reversing her grip on her sword she pulled hard towards her.

With her sword inside his guard, the blunted blade tugged at his shield as she pulled, which put him off balance as he stumbled forward.

Jaune let go of the shield, letting it clatter to the ground as he rolled forward. Jumping up to his feet he turned only to see Areto's sword arcing down at him. Gripping his sword with both hands he intercepted the descending blade.

Areto broke contact and swung up from his left, Jaune leaned back, the blade whistling past his face. Jumping forward he lashed out at Areto but instead she bent backward, his blade missing her. Swiping up, her blunt blade hit Jaune's forearm and it went numb after an intense flash of pain.

Not letting go of the blade he jumped sideways, rolling on the ground to gain distance. As he got to his feet again Areto was moving towards him, slashing at him with her sword, Jaune was barely able to block her strikes.

Jaune raised his blade to knock aside an upwards thrust of her blade but instead of following through with it, she ducked and spun towards his right.

Jaune felt an intense pain as her blunted blade struck his chest and he fell to the ground. Pain echoed throughout his body and breathing became very difficult.

"Well I suppose that's enough for now." Areto said calmly, Jaune simply wheezed then nodded.

"The beginning was a little rough there but you got your act together towards the end." Jaune got his breathing under control and rolled to the side onto his knees.

"Holy crap Areto, that still hurts you know." Jaune said as he stood up with his sword and shield in hand before collapsing the shield then sheathing his sword.

"I know but for what it's worth, one day you'll be able to hit me."

"Yea, about that, uh, how come then I'm using a real sword while you're using a training sword which is blunted? Sure if you hit me hard with that it'll break my bones or give me internal bleeding but if I hit your with Crocea Mors then you'll be hit by an actual sword, which is very sharp may I remind you."

"Don't worry about it Jaune because let's be fair, you're not going to hit me at least not for a while." Jaune sighed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Areto laughed lightly.

"It's got nothing to do with confidence Jaune; it's just a simple gap of where you are in comparison to me. I'm not going to allow myself get hit to just boost your confidence, you've got to earn that pride on your own." Jaune nodded as Areto handed him a water bottle which he took a long swig from.

"Alright, so your deadline is almost upon us, you're training is going to shift a little again. Now we're going to do tracking and wilderness training along with dueling." Jaune nodded as he furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"Say Areto, what exactly will I be tested on when the deadline comes?" She shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe it'll depend on how much progress you made in these few months or maybe he'll have you try to beat me in a fight." Jaune wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Neither of them said anything as they rested, though Jaune was really the one that needed it while Areto was just being polite.

"So I heard you had a little visitor last night." Areto said casually and Jaune chuckled as he shook his head.

"Indeed I did."

"Was she pretty?" Areto asked much to his surprise.

"She is, you know who it is Areto." She nodded.

"Ah little Myrna wasn't it? How is she?"

"Fine." Areto laughed a little at how quickly Jaune answered but said nothing else.

"Actually, Areto, can I ask you something?" Jaune asked looking up at her, she looked back at him.

"Why were my parents called away?" Areto's face hardened a little.

"And what makes you want to ask this Jaune? Your father is the High Lord of Arcadia; there are things that he needs to deal with in person."

"I know that but my mother isn't normally needed for those sorts of things. She leaves most of her administrative duties to Aunt Sanian and only goes when something dangerous happened." Areto smiled softly.

"My, aren't you becoming more perspective now."

"Areto." Jaune said and she sighed.

"It matters not Jaune, you're becoming a Huntsman now. The business of the Arcadian State is no longer your concern." Jaune narrowed his eyes.

"Am I still not a member of Arcadia? I didn't abandon my family to become a Huntsman."

"I'm not saying it's none of your business Jaune but becoming a Huntsman means that you'll be working out and away from Arcadia." Jaune nodded slowly.

"Yes I'm well aware of that but it doesn't mean I can't be involved with my Kingdom and my people." Areto sighed.

"You're right on that account Jaune but I fear you're still too young to understand that you're trying to force the inclusion of two worlds that are vastly different and that may not want to combine."

* * *

 **A few Weeks Later…**

Jaune sat still as he listened to the noise of the forest, the rustle of leaves in the wind, the light chirp of birds and the sound of something moving through a bush. Slowly rising into a crouch, Jaune peered out from behind the tree he was using for cover.

A large deer stood grazing on a small patch of grass. The animal was heedless of him, as Jaune had spent the last hour following it and it had yet to run away.

His ten days of survival training with Areto had essentially been her handing him some stuff and telling him to go survive on his own.

After being given two packs, one of which she strapped on to his back and told him to pull a cord on the left strap when the time comes. While the other was strapped to his front, his weapons tied onto the side of it.

They entered a waiting Valkyrie, an Arcadian Military aircraft similar in design to the Bullhead of the Four Kingdoms but like most Arcadian technology it didn't use Dust to power the transverse rotors on either side.

Once up in the air, Jaune learned quickly that fly didn't agree with him. So he ended up with three bags, one of which he noisily vomited twice in.

However Areto hadn't really cared about that instead giving him his objective. To make it home within the time frame on his strength and no help from them save in extreme cases.

Though he had to admit, he didn't expect Areto to push him out of the Valkyrie when she opened the bay door to show him the landscape that he would be traveling after telling him to count to thirty.

He could still feel the biting chill of the wind in his face and the sensation of free falling. When he finally pulled the cord, he was startled at the jarring feeling as the parachute unfurled. When he landed, his legs hit his chest painfully and he sat there for a few seconds catching his breath before sitting up.

When he looked around he could see nothing but long grass and trees. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight for him as he had explored the forests around his home plenty of times.

What made this time different was the fact that as far as he knew there wasn't a living Human or Faunus remotely close to him.

It wasn't until later that Jaune checked the backpack which contained a day's worth of food and water, matches, a knife, a watch, a compass, one pair of spare clothes, a small blanket, a pouch of basic medical supplies, along with a flare gun with three rounds to indicate that he was in trouble.

Strapped to the pack was also Crocea Mors which he put on his back instead of his waist so it wouldn't snag on bushes or branches. Surprisingly enough Areto had also given him another weapon in addition.

Jaune shook his head out of the memory; he looked down at his hands which held a rifle, one of the older models that had been retired from Military service in Arcadia.

A simple wood and steel bolt action rifle, Jaune had been apprehensive about using it since Areto hadn't given him time to practice. Aside from giving him a brief lecture on how to operate it, Jaune knew nothing else about it.

Raising the rifle slowly up, he trained it on the flank of the animal. His food rations had only lasted him two days, and as far as he was aware, he still had another five days to make it back home. Plus if he made it back sooner he'd have more time to get ready for his deadline that his father set down for him.

There was a snap and the deer raised its head. Jaune could feel his heart skip a beat when it stared directly at him. As much as he wanted the food, what right did he have in taking another creature's life, one with a soul for that matter?

Jaune shook his head that was a foolish thought. He wasn't killing this innocent creature out of spit or fun but the need to survive off the food it would give him.

He fired.

* * *

 **Three Hours Later…**

Jaune sat by the makeshift campfire munching on the cooked meat of the deer. He had killed it with the rifle and taken almost an hour to make it back to his campsite. There he had skinned the creature, gutted it then cut portions of meat off to cook.

Now he saw against a rock chewing a mouthful of meat, the taste of cooked animal fat and meat just made him even hungrier as his stomach growled.

Sighing as he laid back onto the cold ground, he knew he couldn't have more. He needed to save enough for the morning and the trip home.

Sitting up again with a sigh he double checked to make sure that his rifle and Crocea Mors were close to hand. As he may have ditched the bloody carcass of the deer half a mile from where he was staying there may be a small chance a predator might come sniffing around. If that did occur he'd want to arm himself fast.

As the sun dipped over the horizon, the soft warm glow of light went with it. It left nothing but the weak light and slight warmth of his fire that crackled softly.

He was glad that Areto had advised him to dress warm and sturdy so he had worn a pair of heavy jeans, hiking boots, a wool shirt and a hooded jean jacket. His normal training clothes would have been next to useless out here.

Soon the coldness of night started to creep in, along with it the sounds of nocturnal beasts which dwell in that period. However Jaune felt some relief in the incessant noise, as it reminded him that for now, he was partially safe.

Wildlife on Remnant only ever stilled for the fiercest of creatures, such as the Creatures of Grimm. Without a doubt in Jaune's mind, he knew that they were one of the deadliest creatures to roam the world ever.

Though that didn't mean they were the only deadly creatures. As a kid Jaune would often listen to the tales of fantasy that doubled as warnings from his parents, making Jaune believe that there were much deadlier things than Grimm.

The difference between those nigh on mythical creatures and the Creatures of Grimm was simple. The Creatures of Grimm represented an actual present threat, which can and would wipe Humans and Faunus from Remnant.

While those dormant or rare beings could wreck as much death or carnage in a single day as a hundred Grimm could in that same span.

Yet the last supposed incident of these beings was almost a decade before the Great War happened. Despite this, it seemed to him that his family was much more concerned about fairy tales than the Grimm, he didn't know why but it sat ill with him.

Why was his family more concerned about these matters than uniting with the Four Kingdoms to fight the Grimm? They've shown time and again that they are the greatest threat to them all.

After a few moments of thinking Jaune came to the conclusion that this was indeed one of the reasons why he didn't want to join the Arcadian Military. There were too many secrets, too many lies, and not enough trust for him to listen to his dad about joining.

With a yawn, he closed his eyes. Though mindful enough to continue to listen to his surroundings, it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Jaune panted as he broke through another bush, the howling of wolves could be heard in the distance. Slipping on the wet ground, Jaune fell forward into a tree which he bounced off and finally fell onto the ground.

Rolling onto his back Jaune stared at the wet canopy of leaves overhead. A few water droplets splatted against his face from the recent rainfall as he sought to gather his strength. There was another howl, much closer now.

They had his scent.

Sitting up, Jaune looked around with his hand on the handle of Crocea Mors which was still strapped to his back.

Knowing he didn't have a lot of time, Jaune picked up his rifle and used it to help him stand, wincing as pain shot through his leg. Looking down he could see his pants were ripped and blood seeped from a bite wound on his calf.

That wasn't the only wound he had received that day.

It had been in the early morning as he made his way home when the forest had stilled.

Jaune had been afraid that it must have been a Grimm pack that was sighted which silenced the forest. Oh how wrong he had been, his fixation on the Grimm had blinded him to the more natural predators of the world.

So much to his surprise he ran into a group of wolves. Each one had to be at least as large as him, while the leader was even larger than them.

Jaune had tried to back away but they had already noticed him. One of them immediately sprinted towards him that Jaune barely had time to draw and fire his flare gun in panic.

The blazing shot startled and scattered the beasts, Jaune had taken that as his sign to get out of there.

His lead didn't last long as two of the wolves caught up to him. Jaune had turned around with the rifle in his hand but he failed to realize that they wouldn't come at him in a straight line but from the sides.

As such Jaune could only face one while the other took him from behind. His training with Areto had come in to help as he quickly fired a shot at a leaping wolf before rolling away. He could hear the whimpering sound indicating that it was still alive but hurt.

Standing up he had switched the rifle around, holding it by the barrel and swung it like a bat just as the other wolf came at him. He could still remember hearing the sound of something cracking, whether it was bone or the wood of his rifle he didn't get the chance to figure out as something tackled him from behind.

He released the rifle as he tried to roll to his feet and draw Crocea Mors which he had belted around his torso but something sharp latched onto his left calf.

Excruciating pain shot up his left leg as the first wolf had come back into the fray. Jaune knew he had only one chance to save himself when he pulled his sword out from behind his back, he switched hands and twisted at the waist, slashing downward.

It was strange, as in his mind he could see it happen in almost slow motion as the tip of his blade connected with the wolf's head. There was an initial resistance that quickly gave as the blade cut across its face. The wolf let go of Jaune's calf to howl in pain before snarling in rage, jumping at him once more. Jaune put his sword through the wolf's chest as it jumped on him.

The weight and his now injured leg meant that he fell to the ground from the momentum. Fear and adrenaline however made Jaune push the carcass off him in order to rise to one knee. With his sword in hand he faced the second wolf just as it pounced on him as well.

An explosion of mind numbing pain emerged from Jaune's left shoulder as the wolf bite down hard. Without thinking Jaune slid Crocea Mors across the stomach of the wolf as it shook it's head side to side, white hot pain flaring through his torso. Something warm and heavy landed with a wet smack on him as brought Crocea Mors back to stab into the side of the beast.

It finally let go of him as it stumbled to the side. The wolf was somehow not dead yet as he could hear its weak whine growing softer and softer till nothing but his own breathing could be heard. Looking down he could see the wolf's intestines splayed out on his stomach.

Jaune could feel bile rising in his throat; rolling to the side he had puked the contents of his stomach till there was nothing. In the distance he could hear wolves howling, he needed to get out of there.

So he ran, or ran as best as he could but his leg was proving more than just a little trouble in the forest terrain.

There was another howl, much closer now which was quickly answered by more howls. Jaune could feel panic flood his system as he took off through the forest.

As much as he wanted to just turn around and kill the beasts, he knew that he stood no chance in his current condition. He probably wouldn't be able to take them all down without having to reload then with his leg injured he had high doubts he could take them with Crocea Mors.

He was running out of time.

Jaune could see the ground starting to elevate as he climbed a hill. The slow ascent was nerve wracking as he expected to hear the panting of a wolf before it sunk its teeth into him.

The ground started to even out and he was surprised to see that he made it up the hill. Looking around he could see that there was a few large trees and a cluster of rocks. Scanning the environment further Jaune noticed a familiar river in the distance, a river which the creek near his house ran to.

He was almost home.

Those thoughts of home were interrupted as he remembered what was after him. Jaune turned around pulled Crocea Mors off his back and set it to lean against a tree along with the rifle as he took off his backpack and stuffed it under a bush.

He needed to fight off these wolves now otherwise if he tried to run they would just hunt him down on their own terms.

That's when he remembered the flares; he could use those to signal for help since he was so close to home. Going back to his bag, he pulled out the last two shells. Pulling the flare gun from his waist he opened it up, he slid a new shell in and with a snap closed it, pull back the hammer he aimed it towards the sky in the direction of his home then fired.

A bright red light trailing smoke shot up into the sky. Quickly opening the flare gun, he placed the last shell in and fired it as well. Tossing the flare gun aside he took a deep breath. Turning around he wasn't surprised to see the wolves watching him.

There were eight wolves all arrange in a semicircle facing him. Jaune could feel his mouth go dry and he glanced over at Crocea Mors and his rifle.

Jaune slowly made his way over and grabbed Crocea Mors sheath while his right gripped the handle of the sword.

The wolves started to move slowly towards him, all of them were growling or snarling at him and Jaune felt nothing but fear. He was going to die, there was no doubt about it, and even if his leg wasn't messed up Jaune knew he couldn't have taken on eight of them at once.

However there was a sharp bark and the wolves stopped as a much larger wolf appeared from behind them. This wolf easily was larger than him with dark fur and red eyes that watched him carefully.

Jaune gripped Crocea Mors but couldn't help but notice his hands were shaking and he felt really cold. Looking down he could see the color in his hands had faded as well, it was also then that he realized that he had another problem.

The bite on his shoulder must have been deeper than he thought; it was bleeding profusely and had been bleeding since he got bit. His shirt was tinted red and he could feel it sticking to his torso.

"Fuck." He whispered and looked up to see the larger wolf pacing back and forth while the other wolves backed away.

It was then that he realized that there was no way out, he was going to die and even worse, he failed to prove himself right to his dad.

There was a ping from behind him, looking up Jaune saw three cylindrical objects fly through the air to land between him and the wolves. There was a bright flash and bang that forced his eyes shut along with giving his ears a loud ringing sound that forced him to his knees.

He could hear the sound of metal and he tried to blink to shake off the effects of whatever happened but everything was still difficult to see. Slowly his vision and hearing turned to normal, slowly looking around he was surprised to see five people in the black plate armor of the Praetorians standing around him with their poleaxes held at ready.

"Can you stand?" A man's voice asked as the lead Praetorian turned around and held out his left hand. Jaune nodded as he gripped the cold metal gauntlet and stood up but immediately his vision began to narrow, the edges going black as he felt lighted head only to fall again. This time the Praetorian caught him, Jaune could feel the cold metal against his skin.

"Shit, he's bleeding pretty bad, find his stuff, I'm taking him back." The man said and Jaune slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Sometime Later…**

Once again Jaune opened his eyes to see nothing as everything was black. For a brief second he panicked at the idea that he had somehow gone blind.

Turning his head however he could see the red glow of numbers on his digital clock, it was half past ten at night. With a sigh of relief laid his head back onto his pillow and realized that he was almost completely naked save for a pair of shorts.

However he could feel something wrapped around his chest, pushing the duvet off, he welcomed the cool air of his room touching his bare skin. Sitting up however was a bigger challenged as his body seemed to scream in protest at the movement, he had to take a few deep breathes before finally sitting up.

The exertion also sent a twitch of pain through his chest and shoulder, the bite from the wolf he summarized as his feet touched the cold wood of his floor. The previous heat of his bed was now fully dissipated as he slowly put pressure on his legs and nearly collapsed as sharp pain spiraled up his left calf.

"It's only been a day; I guess it'll take longer than that to heal." Jaune said as he limped over to his wall and turned on the lights. Narrowing his eyes a little, he made his way over to his closet and picked out a loose shirt to wear over his bandages.

Before he put it on, he looked over at his full length mirror to check himself out. He still looked a little paler than usual with obvious exhaustion in his face. A thick white bandage was wrapped around his chest and left shoulder with another covering his left shin and calf.

Not only that but there numerous smaller bandages around his hands and forearms. He didn't even notice getting anything else that would warrant the bandages but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it now.

His stomach growled and Jaune looked around to see if he had any leftover protein bars in his room but there was nothing. Opening the door he could see that most of the house was dark as well, limping slowly out in the hallway he placed his hand on the nearby wall to help guide him to the staircase. Reaching there he could see the light in the kitchen was still on.

Descending the steps proved to be an even worse experience for Jaune as each step just sent a jolt up his leg making him hiss each time.

"Hello?" A familiar voice called out in the kitchen and a small smile grew on Jaune's face as he finally made it to the ground floor then limped towards the kitchen. Stepping inside he could see Areto in a simple white shirt along with jeans while his sisters Mina and Sepherina were seated at the island counter.

"Jaune!?" Sepherina cried out and ran over to hug him, he hissed as she wrapped her arms around him. The elder Arc sister stepped back obviously remorseful in causing him pain.

Sepherina Arc was six feet tall with a heart shaped face, her dirty blonde hair tied back into a neat bun with locks of hair on either side of her face. She had on a smart business suit and high heels. Though Jaune could see that she had already checked out of work mode as her blouse wasn't tucked and her high heel were lying on the floor next to the chair she had been sitting next to.

"Are you feeling okay? Does anything hurt? Do you need to see a doctor? Are you hungry?" She asked, her eyes staring intently at his.

"Yes, a little, no and very." Jaune said answering the questions as simply as he could since he didn't feel like standing there to elaborate on every question she might throw at him.

Limping past her, Jaune made his way to the fridge and opened it. He pulled out a container for cheesecake and set it on the counter before grabbing a fork.

"Want me to get you a plate?" Sepherina asked but Jaune shook his head.

"Nah, I'm good." He said before picking up a large chunk and stuffing it in his mouth, Mina chuckled.

"I suppose you'd have an appetite after being out for so long." Jaune tilted his head a little as he chewed on the delicious dessert then swallowed.

"Seems so, I mean sure it hasn't been a day since it happened but I did work up quite an appetite from that close call today." He noticed that the three women exchanging looks before looking at him, he set his fork down.

"Is there something I need to know?" He asked quietly.

"Uh, Jaune, you've been asleep for… three days." Jaune opened his mouth to say something but realized that he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Jaune, do you need to sit down?" Mina asked this time, gesturing to the chair to her right. Jaune picked up the cheesecake and sat down next to her. Mina grabbed a fork and started to take a few bites as Jaune ate it silently.

"I think this is a clear sign that you should stop your training." Sepherina said as a few moments and Jaune snapped his head over to her.

"No." She scrunched up her nose in anger.

"No!? Jaune you look like a bloody ghost! Fuck you nearly died out there." Sepherina snapped as Jaune set his fork down once more.

"I can't stop Sepherina; I need to complete my training with Areto in order to go to Beacon." The Arc girl looked over at her; Areto had yet to say anything.

"And what do you think? Should he continue training now? He can barely stand on his own two feet but he still wants to become a Huntsman." Areto sighed.

"The decision ultimately lies with him, if he wants to continue training till the deadline, then I will train him to the best of my abilities."

"Your abilities nearly got him killed!" Sepherina yelled Jaune slammed his hand on the counter, rattling the dishes and utensils on it.

"Don't yell at Areto, she did nothing wrong. All that happened was a little…mishap, nothing to get worried out."

"Worried?" Mina broke in, turning to face him now as well.

"Yes, you don't have to worry, please trust me on this." Mina held a hand up.

"Jaune, I do trust you but I also know you. I know that you'll keep doing this to yourself even if you break every bone in your body." Before Jaune could say anything she held up her hand again.

"But Jaune, you've also got to realize how this looks to us. When I stopped by, I saw the Praetorians outside the house and I got scared, like really fucking scared. I run inside and I see Helena and the girls all in tears, I tried asking them what happened but none of them could answer me. Then I saw Areto talking with a Sister Hospitaler who had apparently given you medical treatment for your wounds." She pointed to his shoulder.

"Both of them are going to be leaving some very obvious scars as well now, so tell how can we not be worried?" Jaune rubbed one eye as he sighed.

"Look I know you are all worried and I don't want to make you worry but danger is just an inherent part of the work. If I joined the Arcadian Military then I would have still be in grave danger." Jaune pointed out.

"True but you would not have been given a few months to train nor would you be fighting by yourself." Jaune nodded.

"Maybe but I didn't get the chance to convince Dad to let me start training until recently. He wanted and assumed I would probably join the Military after I got out of High School but I told him otherwise so now I needed to prove myself before his deadline to get into Beacon." Sepherina frowned.

"Beacon?" Jaune nodded again.

"Yea it's the closest Huntsmen Academy plus probably the most prestigious one out there."

"How are you going to get into Beacon?" Jaune frowned this time, tilting his head at the question.

"Jaune, you do realize that you need to attend a Combat School before going to Beacon, right?" Jaune blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just like going to a regular College or University. You need to complete a standard set of schooling in order to be eligible of applying to the Academies and you've missed the time period of joining such Combat Schools as they're supposed to double as a High School or Secondary Education as well." Multiple thoughts raced through his mind as he rubbed his chin.

"So, you're saying that I can't go to Beacon even if I pass Dad's test?" Sepherina and Mina looked at each other.

"Jaune, we talked and figured that if anything he wasn't going to let you pass anyway."

"Actually, you're wrong about that." Areto spoke up; the three Arc children looked towards her.

"What do you mean? There's no way Jaune can get into Beacon at this point." Areto shook her head.

"There are still ways to enter Beacon without having to go to a Combat School but don't worry about it." Sepherina frowned but didn't say anything.

"That still doesn't rule out the possibility that dad might still forbid you from going." Jaune smiled a little.

"There's only one way to find out." He turned to look at Areto.

"Speaking of which, had my dad told you any details about when or what the test is?" Areto nodded.

"I know what it is but I can't tell you. As for when, it'll be held the day he's supposed to come back." Jaune furrowed his eyebrows.

"When is he coming back?"

"He should be here the night before your deadline." Jaune nodded.

"Isn't there something else you're forgetting?" She asked as she looked toward Jaune but he just shrugged.

"Jaune, what's the biggest tool that the Huntsmen and Huntresses have?" Jaune scratched the back of his head for a little while but Mina got impatient.

"It's Aura, they have Aura."

"Aura?"

"How the fuck can you not know what Aura is Jaune?" Mina asked obviously exasperated at the ignorance of her younger brother.

"I know what it is!" He said indignantly but Mina crossed her arms.

"Then what is it?" Jaune scowled.

"It's the physical manifestation of the soul, used not only to protect the person but can also give them increased strength, stamina, increased healing or improved senses depending on their training and Aura. But it can also give access to abilities that are unique to each person called semblances." Mina waved her hand dismissively.

"Meh, lucky guess."

"Jaune, Huntsmen and Huntresses use their Aura to help them fight. In a sense, it's the reason why they can fight but you don't have your Aura unlocked. So a minor hit for them would probably be near fatal for you." Jaune nodded.

"Alright, can you unlock my Aura?" He asked turning to Areto but she shook her head.

"I don't have my Aura unlocked either." Jaune blinked.

"Really?" She nodded.

"It's not that I can't get it unlocked it's just that it's sort of a custom to not have it unlocked. While we understand its benefits we also don't want to become reliant on it."

"But if it's a part of you then it's not being reliant." Areto shook her head.

"Think of it like this, if you know that you can fight a group of people who all have guns, which will be painful but not kill you since you have Aura, would you tackle the problem with a cautious mind or go in guns blazing, heedless of the potential danger?" Jaune stayed silent then nodded.

"I suppose that depends on who I am as a person."

"Fair enough but from my experience the usage of Aura can lead even a normally cautious person to start doing things recklessly. While there are a few that can pull even that off without a hitch for most people including Aura users, that attitude will only lead them to get hurt or killed or even worse, someone else killed." Jaune ran a hand through his hair.

"Do our parents have their Auras unlocked?" Areto shrugged.

"I know the High Lord has his Aura locked as for your mother I think so as well but I'm not sure. I haven't seen her fight nor mention anything about it."

"She doesn't." A new voice said and the four of them looked to see a new person standing at the door way. She was six foot five inches, with short blonde hair, an oval face along with ruby red eyes. She wore black trousers, boots, and a grey blouse. She didn't look very happy to see him.

"Oh, hey Aunt Lilly, how are you?" Jaune asked out unsure of what to say.

"Oh, you know, fine, just having to think of how to tell your parents about their only son nearly dying." She said as she walked slowly towards him with her arms crossed, Jaune gulped.

"I-I don't think you'll need to bother them with something like that. You know no harm, no foul?" Lilly looked down at him.

"Do you understand what Arabella would do to me if she found out that I hid something like that from her?" She asked gravely, the look of horror evident in her eyes as she scanned the room almost as if expecting her to appear out of the thin air.

"Anyways, I think you should stop training and give up on going to Beacon Jaune; it's just foolish at this point. Indeed nothing but blind, stupid, foolishness dear brother." Sepherina said calmly and Jaune sighed.

"I'm sorry you think that but in the end it's my decision and mine alone." Jaune said firmly staring at both of his sisters before glancing over at Areto who nodded. He turned to face his aunt who surprisingly had a smile on her face.

"So be it."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Alexander swore silently as the ship rocked back and forth as he pulled the bandage around his hand off, the bleeding had practically stopped by the time Arabella had tied it. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that though, she had looked so worried that he had let her continue dressing his wound.

Looking to his right he could see his wife with her head tilted back and her mouth open as she was fast asleep. He couldn't blame her, neither of them had gotten more than an hours' worth of sleep a night in the last two weeks.

Being called away had been unexpected for sure but he hadn't expect the reason to be so, dire.

The full force of the Arcadian Military Intelligence had been brought forth to assess a developing situation near Argus Province. Three surveyor teams were dispatched to the Outlands to the north of Arcadia, none of them returned.

It seemed that the itch he's been feeling lately hadn't been wrong. It was an itch of death and carnage, an itch for war.

That itch ended up being justified when they finally arrived. A storm like which he hadn't seen in more than a century brewed up where the surveyor teams had been sent. Many assumed it was some freak phenomena, something not seen occurring normally in nature.

He and the other veterans of the long war knew otherwise. The Enemy was making its appearance once more.

Sighing he ran a hand through his hair thinking about the fighting that occurred in the forests.

Alexander had taken a Contubernium of Praetorians with him along with a light infantry battalion to provide additional support.

Arabella led a Commandery of the Sisterhood in tandem while two more Commandery groups being held in reserve along with the rest of the infantry regiment who Alexander borrowed a battalion from.

What they found was something that surprised even him. Standing on a hill in the middle of a grass field was a warrior in bulky red armor. The warrior wasn't alone for long as to either side of him, more warriors in red armor appeared from thin air.

He didn't recognize their armor from his old life. If anything they looked more akin to the plate armor that was worn when he first arrived here than the armor from his world. Also none of them seemed to be carrying any firearms; instead they carried large swords, axes, or maces.

One thing he did recognize was the symbol of the Lord of Blood carved into their armor; in his mind he could still remember the ruin of Murias. The cries of the dying and the look of despair in the Son's eyes as all he fought for was burned to the ground.

It was also at that time as the two forces were staring each other down when the Grimm made their move. The storm had covered their approach long enough that both sides were almost completely surrounded.

Soon a three way fight was underway, the Arcadian Forces, the Grimm, and the newcomers. Alexander however learned that these newcomers no matter how archaic looking their armor and weapons were, they shouldn't be underestimated.

When the Grimm attacked, they simply charged into them. Alexander could see each one was an adept warrior with the strength and speed as they crippled the initial charge of the Grimm long enough for a portion of their force to charge at them as well.

The Arcadian infantry however being bogged down by the Grimm as the appearance of several Death Stalkers meant a lot of firepower was focused on them. With that redirection of their already limited firepower the red armor warriors could only be challenged by the Sisters.

The bolt rounds as usual took a grievous toll on their numbers however Alexander hadn't expected that these warriors would just ignore the deaths in their ranks. When the two lines clashed, it looked it could have gone either way as Arabella joined the fray to support her warriors.

Alexander however could see that they couldn't hold out for long. As it seemed that in close combat these warriors seemed to thrive in, if the Sisters hadn't been wearing their armor then they would have been slaughtered.

Joining in with the Praetorian Contubernium at his back, Alexander also learned that it had been far too long since he's fought against actual warriors as well. As the first warrior of the Lord of Blood would have landed a direct hit if Alexander hadn't stuck his hand out to catch and redirect the blade aside before plunging his own sword into the warrior's chest.

The sword nearly split his hand in two and while his physiology could mend the cut he had over time, had it been split completely then he would be out of action for a while till it recovered or was replaced.

As soon as he died, Alexander rejoined the fight with renewed vigor at having a very worthy opponent. He could remember the joy that ran through his veins to be fighting once more but he was also aware that the presence of more Ruinous Servants was a bad thing in the long run.

Soon the red warriors pulled back having finally been broken but Arabella's warriors were also hurt gravely. Of the two hundred they had set out with, less than sixty would make it back to Arcadian territory.

Soon enough reinforcements arrived via Valkyries along with Close Air Support provided by three Avenger Strike Crafts from the Fort Fayyum Airfield.

After twelve hours of fighting, three of which had been the infantry and warriors of the Sisterhood either finishing off pockets of resistance from the warriors or chasing down the Grimm. Alexander finally called back the Arcadian forces. Night was approaching fast and he didn't want to be caught out in the forest where the Grimm has been heavily active.

Alexander had thought that would be the end of this endeavor and that he could leave it up to the local Military garrison at Fort Fayyum in case anything happened. He had been sorely wrong as it seemed that something had agitated the Grimm to an insane level.

Within the next twenty four hours, numerous calls for evacuation or reinforcements were sent to Fort Fayyum as the garrisoned units at border towns were overwhelmed one by one.

Alexander had Brigadier General Skoblin, the ranking officer of the region send activation orders for all active Military units to report for duty. The Argus Province was nearly eight hundred square kilometers of land one of the smaller Provinces of the Northern Arcadian Territories.

It still held nearly six hundred thousand civilians spread over it, making it difficult to consolidate their defense into a solid line.

So the full might of Military presence was drawn up, two Infantry Divisions, three Motorized Infantry Regiments and an Armored Regiment. Along with that, Four Avenger Strike Craft Wings, three Corsair Squadrons, and a dozen Valkyrie Squadrons were put on standby to support the ground forces.

Arabella also brought out to the field the entire Preceptory that was located in the Province while sending word to the nearby provinces of Irkalla, Sharlor, and Lemavi. They were also to put additional Commanderies from the Sisterhoods on standby.

There were more forces at play like the Praetorians who would be the key in the fight numerous times along with the Army or Sisterhood. Yet despite these forces at his beck and call, Alexander was barely able to hold the territory of Argus. As the Creatures of Grimm were tireless in their single minded determination, tens of thousands had died in the fighting with many more wounded or missing.

Four small towns would also be evacuated with three of them being destroyed by the rampaging Grimm. The smaller villages, Alexander had no true idea about what happened to them.

He sighed; things were still difficult even though he's already gotten word that local newspapers were calling him a hero. People were dead, lives ruined and homes destroyed yet the people of his Kingdom marched on.

Part of him felt sorry that had to be the case that his people were so used to these bloody conflicts that he would stitch back up long enough to heal just as another wound was dealt elsewhere. Even stranger he was almost happy to read about the discontent sometimes.

As quite a few people were starting to believe that the time for them to take control of the Four Kingdoms in order to save the world was coming upon them. Or to let them fail completely then start over from scratch. To them it seemed that the Creatures of Grimm were growing stronger because of the malcontent and turmoil of the Four Kingdoms which was bleeding over to Arcadia.

He closed his eyes and listened to the creaking of the ship along with the steady rumble of the engine. Standing up, Alexander draped his jacket over Arabella as he left the stateroom.

The two Praetorians standing outside his hatch stood at rigid attention and he nodded, gesturing for them to stay as he walked down the corridor. Sailors saluted or bowed to him as he passed by, locating another hatch, Alexander opened it.

Immediately he squeezed through the hatchway onto the deck of the Arcadian Battleship as it moved through the cold sea. Despite the misty spray of the cold sea water, Alexander could make out a number of the other vessels that comprise the Naval Group would bring him and Arabella home. Home, reminded him of one thing.

Jaune.

Alexander knew that in the end he would have to let his son do what he wants. A part of him really wished he would give up on being a Huntsman but if he was anything like him or his mother than Alexander knew that short of forcing Jaune against his own will then nothing will work.

Instead Alexander knew what he needed to do.

Even if it meant he was sending his son to his death.

* * *

 **Well, well, well, now ain't this a thing.**

 **I don't know where I was going with that statement but anyways...**

 **Hello person who's reading this, if you made it this far you either liked the chapter enough to reach the end, hated it but reached the end or just skipped to the bottom to which I must ask, why do that?**

 **If you happened to like it then by all means I encourage you to leave your thoughts or a review in the Review Sections. If you hated it then go ahead and do the same as I would probably respond to both good and bad comments/reviews or you can also PM me in which case I'll get back to you as soon as I can.**

 **Also let's give a hand to Mr. Matthew Milne the guy I asked to draw a picture of a younger Alexander Arc if you haven't noticed the Thumbnail. If you want to find him then look to my profile for his Deviantart information.**

 **And if you liked this or want to try reading a Zombie Fanfic go and check out my other story A Dance of Death.**

 **Till next time!**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jaune sat impatiently at his desk in his room, the deadline was tomorrow so Areto had cancelled his training sessions with her.

However she had reminded him after hearing his protest to the cancelled training that while he couldn't train his body he could still train his mind.

So there he was sitting in his room reading random combat reports that Areto had giving him early on in his training. Each report was detailing missions or events that occurred in the last hundred years in Arcadia's history.

They were all very interesting but after the first few hours his mind had begun to wonder.

It felt like yesterday when he had made that deal with his father followed by everything else that happened as well. He supposed it was the minds way of passing time when one's busy or in this case anxiously waiting for something, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" He called out without turning around from his desk.

"Studying?" The voice of his aunt Lilly asked.

"Yea, I was just going over this mission in Vacuo during the Great War." He said hearing the sound of boots coming closer followed by the squeak of his bed springs.

"Ah yes Captain Dumont's mission to sabotage a southern Mantle Airfield that was preparing to bomb a Faunus refugee camp thinking that it harbored enemy combatants, I remember that." She said as she stood up to glance at the folder and Jaune merely nodded.

"You seem distracted Jaune, is everything alright? Lilly asked and Jaune nodded again, though he had a feeling that she didn't believe him.

"I don't believe you." A small smile touched his lips as he sighed in inevitable resignation.

"Alright, alright you caught me, I'm just worried about tomorrow; dad's test could make or break my future of being a Huntsman. Well, I guess, the pressure is starting to get to me." Jaune could feel Lilly's hand ruffle his hair as she chuckled and a small spark of irritation passed through him.

"Jaune if it took you this long for the pressure to start affecting you then I think you'll be fine, I know I would have started fraying around the edges a long time ago." Jaune shook his head.

"I think you give me too much credit."

"I think you don't give yourself enough." She cut in.

"Look Jaune I know you're nervous but you made it this far which you should be proud of. You've even fight off wolves for someone with no experience." Jaune snorted.

"Yea and looked what happened to me." Jaune pulled down his collar revealing his bandage shoulder; it didn't hurt as bad as it did when he first got it. With the wound he was forced to lighten his training load to only six hours a day, which had also added to his stress about his deadline. Even his leg had yet to fully heal as it still ached every now and then if he didn't stretch.

"I can see in your face that you're freaking out again Jaune but trust me you'll be fine." Lilly said reaching out to grab his hand and hold it. There was a sharp contrast between his warm hands and her cool ones.

"I know I shouldn't worry but I just can't help it but if you insist I'll try." Jaune said looking up to meet her gaze, she smiled.

"That's all I ask Jaune, now why don't I make you a cup of coffee, kay?" Jaune smiled and nodded.

"Sounds good." Lilly stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Jaune spun around to look back at his desk. Not wanting to do anymore reading, he pulled out his scroll, he didn't really use it to call anyone as he didn't really have a lot of friends but he did enjoy watching videos online to pass the time.

Bringing up a streaming app he was surprised to see that apparently Mistral was having some tournament or something.

Tapping the screen the video started to move and Jaune could see that apparently it was already over. A red hair girl held a flower bouquet while she waved with one hand at the crowd as she stood on a raised platform with another girl and guy who stood on lower portions.

For some reason he couldn't help but feel that none of them were actually happy where they were, which didn't really make a lot of sense.

At the same time Jaune couldn't help but feel something about the redhead was familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Looking down at the stream of comments he could see people talking about how incredible her fighting skill was or her beauty. Which Jaune couldn't help but agree that she indeed was a lovely sight to see.

"Isn't she the girl on Pumpkin Pete's cereal box?" A voice said from behind and Jaune looked over his shoulder to see Mina standing behind him with two white mugs.

"She is?" Jaune asked looking back at her to study her features, as she was now being interviewed so there was a close up on her face.

"I guess you're right." He finally said as he scratched his check.

"Of course I am, anyways, here's your coffee, milk included. Though I still don't understand why you ask for coffee if you like drinking it filled half way with milk." Jaune shrugged before taking a sip.

"I don't like it being too bitter but at the same time I don't like it when it's loaded with sugar. So I've learned that a strong coffee with milk makes for a nice even drink, not too bitter and not too sweet so I'm happy." Mina snorted.

"Whatever Jaune." Jaune ignored her as she left and turned back to his scroll. The interview was over now and the stream was now just two guys talking about the fights. Jaune watched intently as they played a few moments where the winner, whose name he had already forgotten, was able to deflect and avoid blows with apparent ease.

She flipped, block and struck with such precision that it boggled his mind at how well she fought. Not only that but she used her weapon with exquisite skill that it wouldn't surprise Jaune if she had been training with it since she was a small child.

He set his scroll down and leaned back in his chair. Now he had wished he hadn't looked at the stream as it served only to remind him of how inadequate he was as a swordsman, he couldn't even fight off a few wolves.

After a moment he figured some fresh air might clear his head, so he got up, slipping on his shoes and headed downstairs.

His aunt was sitting in one of the arm chairs reading something on her scroll as she sipped a mug, Nessa was watching some cartoon on the television but no one else was in sight.

"Your sisters went to the village to hang out with some friends, Mina also left for work and Areto is running some errands for your father before he gets home tonight." Jaune froze at the last bit.

"Wait, they're coming home tonight?" Lilly didn't look at him but simply hummed. Jaune sighed as he headed towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Lilly asked looking at him now as he reached for the door handle.

"Out."

"Out where?"

"Just outside, I feel like getting some fresh air."

"Be careful then your leg still isn't fully healed yet." Lilly said as she turned her attention back to her scroll. Jaune stepped outside, the cool air felt refreshing to his exposed skin as he walked down the front yard to the dirt road outside their house. Turning left on the road he walked north towards Avalon village.

* * *

 **Ten Minutes Later…**

Avalon was a village located in the Outlands south of the Kingdom of Vale. With a minor population of two and a half thousand people that lived in relative peace. The forest and river surrounding the village territory acted as a natural barrier against minor Grimm forms.

With that peace they have been able to further develop their village and territory. They've been able to set down paved roads, an exterior wall with periodic guards, bridges to connect them south of the river and having well-crafted homes or buildings to live in.

Jaune reached a wooden bridge, off to the right was a small booth with two guys in it watching a small television. Neither of them looked up when Jaune walked past them as their job was only to be on a lookout for Grimm since bandit attacks were a rare if nonexistent thing in these regions close to the Four Kingdoms.

As Jaune crossed the bridge he could see a few older men sitting by the river fishing, there were even a few kids running around. The screaming and yelling of playful children could be heard as they occasionally splashed into the water earning the ire of the older folk that just wanted to fish.

Continuing off the bridge Jaune stepped onto the cobble pathway that led towards the main section of the village.

He could hear the sound of civilization grow louder, the barking of dogs mixed with the chirping of birds as the loud sound of clanking metal of blacksmith shops that echoed along with the raised voices of market vendors selling their goods.

The smell of fresh bread, fatty smoke of meat being cooked and the smoke of open fires drifted to his nose. His stomach rumbled reminding him that the only thing he had to eat so far had been some protein bars and coffee.

"Is that Jaune?" A male voice said nearby and he turned to see three guys each with an accompanying girl. Jaune recognized them as old classmates; he didn't know them any of them very well other than being friends with a girl who he had a deep crush on in High school.

"Hello Curtis." Jaune replied politely, nodding towards the leading teen who had said his name, then continued walking. However the sound of people moving closer to him led him to believe that this wasn't going to be good.

"Hey, is it me or does he look more cut than normal?" A girl pointed out.

"Oh yea, he could hold me at night anytime." Another one said causing the other girls to giggle amongst each other.

"Man Arc, what the heck happened to your leg?" One of the guys asked but Jaune simply shrugged as he kept walking up.

"Just a cut."

"Seriously? Look at the size of that bandage man; did you fall on a buzz saw or something?" The guy asked.

"I don't think he likes us." The third guy noted from behind but Jaune didn't say anything nor did he turn around.

"Maybe, probably has to do with the fact that he finally got a clue about going after Roxanna turned him down again during Prom." Curtis said which brought a chorus of laughter but again Jaune didn't feel like responding as it was kind of true that he didn't want to talk to them about her.

"Say, Jaune, are you heading towards the market? Because that's where we're heading to meet Roxanna so if you wanna join us by all means come along." Curtis appeared in Jaune's peripheral, a sleazy smile on his face.

"I'll even save you a seat." He said before finally backing off with the rest of his friends, Jaune stopped to watch as they went down a different alleyway. He sighed both in relief and annoyance, if they were going to be in the main market where all the good food was then he probably would want to avoid it. As being reminded of how foolish he was in high school didn't sit well with him.

So he went in a different direction, opting instead to just walk around Avalon. Walking around the village Jaune realized that if all goes well that he probably wouldn't see this place for a long time. As far as he was aware of to become a Huntsman he would have to train and study at Beacon for four years.

By the time he figured he would want to explore the Outlands and even the other Kingdoms. So he wouldn't be home for even longer or maybe at all. A small part of him though was kind of glad that he wouldn't return as he had so many mixed memories, some good and some bad.

Especially High School, as everyone in his graduating class knew of his infamous quest to convince the most popular girl there to go out with him. Since the class was less than a hundred people that meant it was easy for people to figure out who he was.

Jaune stopped as he reached a well-constructed wood and stone wall that surround most of the village from the outside along with the river.

Beyond that wall were the Outlands, lands which lay mostly uninhabited since the Ancient Days of Man and Faunus. Out there Nature behaved as it wished though with that uninhabited land a deadly taint is present, the Creatures of Grimm.

The Grimm pushed and gnawed at the bones of civilization yet the Four Kingdoms, Menagerie, and Arcadia were all still able to endure their toxic grip.

Arcadia, Jaune could count on one hand how many times he's been there. Sure each of those trips lasted at least a month where he met many people and visited many places. Yet all that did was just deepen his quest for knowledge about his Kingdom.

A Kingdom which apparently regards him and his sisters as royalty much to his dismay though his father never told him anything, his mother would give information but it always becomes clear that for her, being a ruler was never truly a concern.

His father on the other hand took it as a serious duty that Jaune was surprised that he had their family stay in Avalon especially since he would be away weeks even months at a time. Yet he wanted Jaune to join the Arcadian Military, Jaune rubbed his hair furiously at trying to figure out his father.

Nothing made any sense and nor did he have the whole picture yet he was expected to sit idly by and accepted what his father told him. He knew his father was hiding secrets, state or personal secrets he had no idea whatever it was, he figured it must be important to him to hide it from them.

"Lost in thought eh?" Jaune turned to see an older bald man with a bushy white beard; he wore dirty jeans and a worn flannel jacket.

"Hello Mayor Dumont." Jaune said bowing his head a little in respect but the old man waved it off.

"No need for the formality boy, I'm not that old." Jaune smiled a little.

"And nor am I a boy." Dumont guffawed.

"You'll always be a boy until you've killed something, though judging by those injuries I reckoned you had yourself one heck of a fight with those wolves." Jaune blanched much to the Mayor's amusement.

"Boy you should look at your face." He said as he walked up next to him to look beyond the fence.

"I remember the day you were born, your father was ecstatic to finally have a son, though I reckon he was partially worried about having only daughters. Not because he was worried about what might happen to them but more so what they might do to others since most of your sisters seem to take after your mother. If there's one thing your mother loves almost as much as you kids and your father it's fighting and considering how many times I had to talk with your sister Mina for getting into fights, I think it's safe to say who they take after more." Jaune finally shook himself out of his momentary daze.

"Hold on Mayor, how do you know about my injuries?" The Mayor snorted.

"Why wouldn't I? Your parents often keep me well informed of events occurring with your family and the homeland." Jaune looked around to see if anyone else was there but they were alone either way he stepped closer to the mayor.

"So, wait, you know who we are?" The mayor tilted his head a little confused.

"Why wouldn't I know who my Lord and the royal family?"

"Wait, are you an Arcadian?" Jaune asked and the Mayor nodded.

"Indeed I am, in fact the founding members of Avalon are all Arcadian as well." Jaune was genuinely surprised to hear this. Then the thought occurred to him as he remember the file he read earlier about a Dumont.

Areto must have given him Dumont's father's mission file which if he recalled correctly he ended up getting a medal and a promotion.

"So this is technically an Arcadian Village, seeing how we get most of our support from Arcadia rather than Vale." Dumont frowned slightly.

"Has no one told you this? Not even in the school?" Jaune shook his head, bitterness filling his heart once more.

"No, my parents have deemed it unnecessary to inform me or my sisters of anything. As for school, they never really mentioned it, they went over Arcadian History during the Great War and Faunus Revolution but other than that they vaguely covered that we're independent from the Four Kingdoms." The Mayor hummed as he stroked his beard.

"Well for the schools if I recall correctly it was instituted more than a few decades ago by Alexander that they should gloss over it, as he didn't want people to realize who was amongst them. As for those that already knew, an edict was passed that refrained them was speaking out loud about it. Other than that I can see why the High Lord wished to keep it a secret from you and your younger sisters, this kind of information can get complicated. Especially after your sister Katherine left."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she is the first born and eldest Arc child as such Alexander had been more open with her. With that openness a whole new view of the world was born, coupled with the fact that she would take the Throne upon his death. I would wager that she felt too much pressure as such decided to become a Huntress. From that point I assumed he decided not to tell you or your younger sisters anything." Jaune rubbed his chin.

"So then, Mina and Sepherina knew all along as well." Dumont put a hand on Jaune's uninjured shoulder.

"Don't hold it against them lad, they're simply doing your father's biding in this matter." Jaune looked at him.

"So this village is technically Arcadian territory, are all the people here Arcadian citizens?" Dumont shook his head.

"Mostly but we do have a number of people that don't originate from Arcadia. You probably don't know this but Avalon didn't start off as a village." Jaune furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well my father originally was ordered to set up here during the Great War, as a launching point for tactical strikes against Valean military or civilian infrastructure points. However by the time Avalon came up to operational readiness the war was already over. Alexander however gave my father the choice of leaving the service for his actions early on in the war along with one boon; the boon my father asked for was to make Avalon a village. Your father granted it as such my family has been here for decades along with many families that settled here with my parents."

"So my father moved here because Avalon is an Arcadian territory?" Dumont shook his head.

"I don't believe that is the case, I figure he would want you kids to live a simple life instead of the extravagance of being the ruling family of a Kingdom."

"But that doesn't make any sense, we know he's the High Lord and we know that our mother is the leader of the Sisterhood. We know that almost every Arc out there is a high ranking officer or government figure why keep this all a secret?" Dumont nodded, patient as a teacher who was listening to a student voicing a valid complaint.

"Yes this is all true but are you treated any different here?"

"No."

"Do you expect or demand things of people thinking that it's your birth right?" Jaune shook his head.

"No, I know that I have to earn something in order to have it."

"Good, are you expected to help or do anything even if it's some menial job like washing dishes?"

"Yea." The mayor snapped his fingers.

"There, do you see now lad. You've been raised with the knowledge that you're the son of a Kingdom's ruler yet you don't know the extravagances that such a position would normally entail. In fact if memory serves me correctly you're trying to become a Huntsman, a wondering agent that owes no allegiance to anyone but himself. Even now you're walking around with bandages that cover some serious wounds, so trust me lad, your parents succeeded in that regard." Jaune didn't say anything as he looked back out at the forest.

"Tell me Mayor, is there anything else that my father would hide from me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I can't speak for him on this position, in fact I can't speak for anyone on this other than what I know, which isn't a whole lot. Yet I know that there are reasons for that, I may not be a soldier but as Mayor in this Arcadian Village I know that there's more out there than what many people in the Four Kingdoms know, things that I've been sworn to keep secret. At the same time I kind of wish I don't know as even with the information I know makes me scared, So I don't know why Alexander keeps it a secret from you and even the world at large but I know that sometimes ignorance is bliss."

"He's right Jaune." A voice said from behind him and Jaune felt a wave of sheer terror pass down his spine as he turned around, Areto was standing with a pair of filled paper bags in her arms.

"I see you weren't paying attention to your surroundings again Jaune." She remarked as Jaune ran a hand through his hair.

"Well that's because I don't expect you to sneak up on me all the time."

"Maybe you should."

"I rather not have to look over my shoulder for you all the time."

"True but you should look nonetheless."

"Yea that seems a bit excessive."

"Whatever. Anyways Mayor Dumont thank you for keeping this young one's mind busy, I'll take him off your hands." Dumont chuckled.

"It's not a problem Areto, what time should I stop by?" The mayor asked.

"Any time past seven should be fine." Areto said as she bowed her head slightly then looked at Jaune again.

"Come on Jaune." Jaune bowed his head one last time in respect towards the Mayor before following Areto. The two of them didn't say anything as they walked through the village, Jaune looking left and right at the wooden houses, each well maintained while showing obvious signs of life.

Jaune could see children playing while men and women worked or talked amongst each other. He could easily see the friendship and sense of community in their actions they moved about their day heedless of them.

"Do you think you'll miss it here?" Areto asked as they continued walking.

"Avalon?" She nodded.

"I think before I have a chance of missing it I should be able to leave it at first."

"True but let's say that your father does let you go to Beacon, what then?" She pressed.

"Well of course I would miss it at first but I think over time I would be fine, besides it's not like I'm leaving forever. I'm sure I would return to see everyone." Areto hummed a little at that but said nothing. As they finally reached the bridge, Jaune looked towards her.

"So are you going to talk to me about what happened with the Mayor?"

"Nope, that's not my place to discuss such matters in fact I think he gave away a little more than he should have." Jaune frowned, annoyance seeping into his mood.

"Why?" Areto sighed.

"Honestly Jaune I just can't say." Jaune looked away not wanting to push the issue with her, the two of them continued to walk in silence for nearly half a mile before she spoke up again.

"Your father is home by the way." Jaune felt a tingle of anxiety pass down his spine.

"Ah."

"For what it's worth Jaune, no matter what happens I want you to know that I'm proud of you." Jaune looked over her mildly surprised to hear that and smiled at her.

"Thank you Areto, it means a lot." The two of them walked in silence home.

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

Jaune opened the front door and held it open for Areto as she was still carrying the bags. Following behind her he closed the front door, looking around he was surprised to see that no one was in the living room.

"Where is everyone?" Jaune asked aloud.

"I'm not sure." Areto replied but at that moment the two of them could hear Arabella's raised voice coming from the kitchen.

"You better make this right Alexander Arc. No! I don't care what your reasons are, had Areto not saved him then he would be dead! OUR SON! Do you get it?!" Jaune blanched at first at hearing that his mother was angry then curiosity took over as he realized that she was talking about him. Glancing up at Areto, she looked at him and grimaced as well.

"Jaune? Are you out there?" Arabella called out then appeared at the entryway of the kitchen. She was wearing a black shirt tucked into grey fatigues and boots. Jaune supposed she had other things on her mind than changing her clothes.

"Jaune! You're home." Arabella said a smile blossoming on her face but it quickly died as she saw his leg in a bandage, the joy that had once been there turned to wrath.

"Did that happen under your tutelage Areto?" Arabella asked looking towards the other woman, Areto bowed her head.

"I'm afraid so Ma'am, his injuries occurred during a training exercise in which I had dropped him into the Outlands telling him to reach home within a week's time. He did well until he ran into a pack of wolves, he defended himself but they proved too much for him to completely beat, Dondorian and his team extracted him in time before anything else happened to him." His mother didn't say anything at first as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out.

"Injuries, you say? As in there's more than just the one on his leg? Jaune, show me." Jaune pulled down his collar showing the white bandages on his shoulder, Arabella gestured for them to follow her.

Sitting in a chair in the kitchen was his father and aunt who stood in a corner. Arabella grabbed Jaune's wrist, he winced at the strength in her hand as she pulled him forward.

"You want to explain to me why our son already is so heavily injured now as well? I was lead to believe that it was simply an accident but this isn't a accident Alexander these are full blown injuries that could have been fatal for fuck sake. It was bad enough for when the day you made that stupid fucking deal but this is going far enough." His father didn't say anything but Jaune looked at his furious mother.

"Mom, please trust me when I say that I understand that this is serious and you're upset but hurting me wasn't their intent or fault. Those things just happened and I didn't prepare myself for it so I only have myself to blame, so please don't take it out on them." Arabella looked at him, not in confusion or anger but pity.

"Jaune, you don't understand what your father did. It's inexcusable even for him." Jaune looked over at him yet his father still didn't say anything.

"What happened?" Jaune asked but his father wouldn't look him in the eyes, something he's never done before.

"Jaune, do you remember the day you and your father made a deal about you going to Beacon?" Arabella asked and he nodded.

"Do you remember what happened when you went to go with Nessa down to the creek?" Jaune furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You mean when I got in a fight with those two guys and Areto saved me?" She nodded and that's when it finally clicked.

The sheer chance of two random strangers meeting them out in the creek was tremendously lucky. Their house which is technically a part of Avalon but they was still more than a few miles away from the main section.

So it was surrounded mostly by nature with a few spattering of other family homes but nothing was close by that would make it easy to run into them out in the woods.

"Who were those two?" Jaune asked looking at his father again.

"I did what I had to do to see how truly dedicated to your goal you were." He finally said and Jaune felt his throat constrict.

"Did you really send two people to attack Nessa and the others?" Alexander shook his head.

"No, their instruction was to pick a fight with you I had also said that they didn't need to hold back. I wanted them to show you fear and pain of what could happen in a situation like that but I didn't think they would try pulling a knife on you." Jaune felt a little lightheaded as reached out to steady himself, his mother was instantly by his side supporting him.

"Why?" He asked in a soft voice, Alexander closed his eyes and ran a bandaged hand through his hair.

"I needed to know if you were truly dedicated, I needed to test you."

"Test me!? That's what you wanted to test me with?!" Jaune finally snapped pulling himself away from his mother.

"You hired two thugs to come and scare Nessa and the girls in order to test me?! FOR WHAT!? Did you want to see if I would fight two random people in order to protect my own sisters!? Your daughters! You put them at risk; I don't care what would have happened to me but your dragged them into it!" Alexander didn't say anything and simply sat there, Jaune rubbed his mouth. He was furious but just as quickly as it came, his anger died away, replaced by nothing.

"So is that why Areto arrived so quickly? Did you know about his plan?" Jaune asked turning to address her, she nodded.

"I was the one who hired them; afterwards I armed myself and found you by the creek then waited to see what happened. I would step in if your sisters were in true danger or in the case that did happen if they decided to go too far with it."

"And now you're talking about it." Jaune pointed out.

"Yes but I do so only under the assumption by listening to this conversation which does involve me to a certain extent that I am now allowed to discuss it. Otherwise I wouldn't say anything."

"You wouldn't tell me about this ever?" Areto nodded.

"I would take it to my grave if need be." Jaune sighed.

"As I expect, I can't fault you for that Areto you only did what you were ordered to do." Jaune looked once more at his father; he didn't feel mad as much as he felt disappointed. Everyone was silent until Alexander reached behind him and pulled out a envelope.

"Take this." Alexander said as he held it out towards Jaune. Taking it, he flipped it around and saw an emblem, crossed axes over a laurel wreath. Opening it up, Jaune pulled out a sheet of paper than began to read it, halfway through he could feel his mouth open in surprise, he looked up.

"Is this real?" Alexander nodded.

"What is it?" His mother asked and he looked at her.

"It's an acceptance letter from Beacon." She looked surprised.

"You're in?" She asked and Jaune nodded.

"Do you still want to go? Even after what your father did and how you got injured" She asked.

"With all my heart." He replied instantly. She smiled sadly, cupping his right cheek with one cool hand, she kissed his forehead.

"I suppose I won't be able to talk you out of this. Jaune I want you to know that despite everything I'm proud of you honey and I know you'll do your best there. You'll always have a home here." He smiled.

"Thanks mom." Alexander cleared his throat slightly drawing their attention.

"Actually, we won't be here anymore." Arabella frowned, visibly upset again then realization of what he meant dawned on her face and she nodded. Jaune however like usual didn't understand a thing.

"Wait, what?" Alexander looked towards his son.

"Jaune, I believe one of the reasons why you were able to attain a spot in this year's batch of new Beacon students is because the current Headmaster is aware of who we are." Jaune tilted his head a little.

"So what does that even matter? I could understand you wanting to keep it a secret here to prevent people from being too formal or something but what does that have to do with Beacon? They're not affiliated with the actual Valean Government."

"Actually you're both right and wrong on this matter Jaune. While Beacon doesn't officially have anything to do with Kingdom politics, that doesn't mean that it is invulnerable to those same areas. No doubt someone has leaked the information or seen its contents had already begun to relay it to their superiors about your enrollment." His aunt Lilly spoke up for the first time since Jaune arrived.

"Okay but that doesn't explain why you would have to move." Jaune pointed out and Arabella sighed.

"Jaune. What your father and Aunt are saying is, while Beacon itself may not care for whom you are, the Four Kingdoms will. We're the rightful ruling family of a sovereign Kingdom that for all intents and purposes means that you are a part of said ruling family, making you royalty. A royal member that belongs to a nation that is not on very good terms with the Four Kingdoms. Vale doesn't like our militaristic tendencies as they feel it upsets the balance of the current peace since we didn't downgrade our military after the Great War and Faunus Revolution. While Atlas doesn't like having a Kingdom who has no formal alliances or treaties with any one of the Four Kingdoms and holds a powerful army that could easily challenge their claim as the greatest military on Remnant. Mistral still holds a grudge after what we did to them in the Great War as such they'll always side against us. Vacuo sides with the Valean perspective as they see us as a volatile mixture in Kingdom politics which could easily drag them into another war. Even Menagerie isn't friendly as we didn't open our borders during the Faunus Revolution when hundreds of thousands of Faunus were displaced from their homes in each of the Four Kingdoms in fear of Anti-Faunus attitudes. So if or when word spreads that you came from here, a lot of people from the Four Kingdoms will come sniffing around here and since Avalon also relies on open trade routes with Vale we can't be here as they'll use it as a leverage to bring us to the table to talk."

"Then why not accept their request for a formal talk?" Jaune asked looking at his aunt again.

"It's a little more complicated than that but for a general idea of why we haven't allied ourselves with the Four Kingdoms is because of our fundamental difference in how we see the world. Along with that, the last time we entered a serious political discussion ended up breaking down due to the stipulations that the Kingdoms wanted to impose. Some of those stipulations were dismantling our entire military industry, reducing the Military to less than a tenth of its current strength at the time, exclusive nontaxed mining rights for the Schnee Dust Company to appease Atlas. That part alone with the SDC can cause a number of problems with Arcadia's economy being shifted around to appease just one company. Even Vale requested a stringent oversight committee that we would have to answer to for any military actions that we take." Lilly replied.

"Actually that brings up another question, why does Arcadia have such a, well, militaristic society? I understand that the Grimm are a serious threat and have done more than a little damage over the years to our people. I even suspect that's the reason why you all left a few weeks back to deal with a Grimm threat back in the homeland. However from the way everyone talks or acts, sometimes it feels as if the Creatures of Grimm aren't the ones you're talking about." Jaune said, Lilly exchanged looks with Alexander and Arabella but didn't say anything. Jaune looked to Areto but even she didn't meet his eyes.

"See? This is what I'm talking about, there's always something that gives away the feeling that you're hiding something. I think at this point I deserve to know the truth." Jaune said again, Alexander sighed as he stood up.

"Son, you're right in the fact that you do deserve to know but there are things that make having a conversation difficult to go about. So I have another compromise, if you can make it a year in Beacon then I'll answer any question you have. Deal?" Jaune narrowed his eyes a little.

"It's a deal as long as you don't hire anyone else to beat me." The moment Jaune spoke those words; he kind of regretted it as his father's face darkened like the sky in a raging storm at sea.

"Mind you tongue my son as you may not face some hired thugs next time but maybe your Aunt Sanian, you know how much she enjoys a good fight, in fact maybe I'll be your next opponent." Jaune could feel his body grow cold.

"Be grateful that I put in the time to fill out your paperwork, now go upstairs and wash up for dinner." Jaune could see Lilly brighten up at that.

"What are we having?" She asked as Alexander reached into the paper bags that Areto had set on the counter top and brought out a several wax paper covered items.

"We're having steak with roasted potatoes and string beans. You on the other hand should be catching a flight if I recall correctly." Lilly pouted then turned to Arabella.

"Ara? Can I please stay for dinner? Pretty Please?" Arabella smiled.

"Of course, I don't mind, do you?" Arabella asked as she faced Alexander, a faux smile on her face as it was clear to see that she was still annoyed about earlier.

"Fine." Alexander murmured much to the women's delight. Jaune however had already left to go upstairs, when he opened his door, he wasn't surprised to see his sisters sitting idly in his room.

"Jaune!" Nessa cried out, a smile splitting across her face, her fox ears twitchily happily as she hugged him. She was much more careful about it though as Helena had scolded her for jumping on him too much early into his recovery.

"Is mom still reading dad the Riot Act?" Miriya asked from her spot on Jaune's bed, he shook his head.

"No, I guess she cooled down a little when I got there and talked with him. Even then I wouldn't be surprised if we see dad sleeping on the couch for the next week or so despite this." Jaune held up his Beacon acceptance letter for Claire to stand up from his chair and took it in order to read it. Her look of surprise must have been what Jaune looked like as her mouth and eyes opened wide as she read it.

"So you're leaving?" Claire finally asked as she handed the letter for Helena and Miriya to read.

"Yup, I supposed I'll head out next weekend then stay the night in a hotel before heading to Beacon."

"This is still crazy, you know that right? You're not even fully healed yet." Miriya pointed out, outrage evident in her voice.

"She's got a point Jaune; you're going to a Huntsman Academy. Arguably the most prestigious one in the Four Kingdoms, you'll have a hard time moving let alone fighting Grimm." Helena chimed in, Jaune held up a hand to stop them.

"Look I'm fully aware that it's a Huntsman Academy but I doubt they would have us fight Grimm off the bat. I'm sure they'll want us to adjust to life in the Academy at first, maybe test our skills to see where we're at before having us face off against Grimm." Jaune said as he walked past them to sit in his chair.

"Jaune's got a point; he should be completely healed before they have him go against his first Grimm." Claire mused aloud. Nessa hoped onto the bed and bounced slightly.

"What if they make you skydive into a forest filled with Grimm as like an initiation." Nessa added a thoughtful look on her face. Jaune exchanged looks with his sisters before the four of them started to laugh, Nessa not understanding assumed that they were making fun of her so she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Nessa don't be upset, we're not laughing at you but no one would do something like that at a school, even one like this." Nessa softened up a little then flashed a toothy smile, or as toothy as she could since her upper front two teeth were still missing.

"Jaune." Miriya said however, her serious demeanor putting a dampener on everyone else's mood, Jaune looked up to meet his sister's eyes.

"Do you promise to write to us every week? To let us know how you're doing in Beacon?" Jaune nodded.

"Nothing to worry about Miriya, I'm sure mom would hunt me down if I didn't write a letter or send some sort of message to all of you."

"I'm serious Jaune; do you promise to keep yourself safe?" Jaune didn't answer immediately at this.

"Promise us that you'll keep yourself safe no matter what." He scratched the back of his head.

"Look I don't think I can promise that but I'll try."

"That's not good enough." Miriya said but Jaune held up a hand to halt her from going on a tirade.

"Look Miriya I know you're upset and worried about me leaving to Beacon and you want me to be safe but I can't promise anything aside from me promising that I'll do my best there. That's all I can say about it." Miriya opened and closed her mouth a few times as if she wanted to say something but she reluctantly nodded.

"I understand." Jaune smiled as Areto opened his door to peer inside.

"Dinner will be ready soon." Claire turned towards Jaune, a sad smile on her face.

"I suppose we should go downstairs, it'll be one of the last dinners we have together for a while." The Arc children stood up and headed downstairs. For the time being they wanted to enjoy their time together for none of them knew what waited in the future. Had they known what waited over the horizon then they might have tried even harder to enjoy their time together.

* * *

 **1 Week Later…**

Jaune ran over his checklist of items on his bed that he wanted to bring with him to Beacon. Items such as several pairs of clothes both casual and training orientated. He also had his tooth brush, Scroll, Scroll charger; airsickness medicine along with two dozen recently released editions of X-ray and Vav comics.

Looking near the foot of his bed however was the stark white plates of his armor. Along with that was Crocea Mors in its sheath which Jaune had attached to a black leather belt.

Picking the weapon up, he pulled the sword a few inches out of its sheath to examine the blade. It wasn't the fanciest of weapons that his mother had in her arsenal but it had the most sentiment of being forged as a gift from his dad to her.

Jaune still felt incredible grateful in receiving the weapon but he hoped he could live up to the expectations that were now placed upon him by his family.

"Nervous?" Alexander's voice appeared from the doorway, Jaune shrugged as he sheathed the blade into its scabbard again.

"Is it wrong that I feel like throwing up?" He asked looking towards his father who simply chuckled.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did, you always did get queasy when you were really nervous, that and when you ride in an aircraft."

"It's not my fault! People are just not meant fly, we don't have wings for a reason!" Jaune defended himself but Alexander simply chuckled as he put a hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"I'm not blaming you son, there's nothing wrong with that. Anyways do you have everything you need?" Alexander asked, Jaune looked down at his bed and nodded.

"Let me just pack everything up then I'll be good to go." Alexander nodded as he bent over a little to pick up the diamond shaped chest plate of Jaune's armor. He wasn't expecting to see his father grasp it with both hands and start twisting it slightly. Even worse Jaune could see the metal plate shifting in his hands which quickly brought up the question of how actually effective this armor was.

"I know what you're thinking and yes, this armor I'm loaning to you isn't that effective as you might think. It should be sufficient to block and absorb the blows of a poorly constructed blunt weapon in the hands of an amateur while it can only stomach a glancing hit from a blade or dedicated bludgeon. Normally I would be able to get you a new suit of armor and weapon in a month or so but we us moving back to Arcadia I'll have to put that off for a while as I'll be busy as High Lord." Jaune nodded.

"I understand dad, there's no need to rush it." Jaune clapped his hands together as he looked at the clock.

"Well I'll pack this up and meet Areto downstairs." Alexander raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Areto?" Jaune nodded slowly.

"Oh, I assumed she's the one that'll accompany me to Vale." Alexander shook his head a smile growing on his own face.

"No Jaune, I'll be coming with you."

"What?"

* * *

 **Twenty Minutes Later…**

Jaune stood outside his house with a backpack slung over his shoulder, his armor was strapped to the outside of it while Crocea Mors hung around his waist. His father stood next to him wearing his normal attire of black trousers, black shoes, a blue button up shirt and carried two bags.

"Do you have everything you need?" Arabella asked as she did another inspection of Jaune.

"Yes, I'm fine mom; I've got everything I need." Arabella gave him a small smile which he returned as she patted his cheek.

"I know, I know, please be patient I just want to make sure. My baby boy is going off on his own, soon to be starting his own life, I can't help but fret." She said before finally stepping away then looked over at Alexander.

"Don't worry Arabella I'll make sure he gets there on time." She smiled at him, over the last few days Jaune had seen the two of them start to fix their relationship once more. It had been the first time that his parents ever appeared to have a major problem in their relationship.

Admittedly it was reasonable to be livid if your partner hired a pair of thugs to scare your children and beat up your son.

"Well you two should be heading out now; it's a seven hour flight to Vale and the weather reports suggest it's going to rain." Alexander snorted.

"I wouldn't worry about the rain, when's the last time you've heard a weatherman actually predict the weather." Almost as if nature was listening to him, something splashed on Jaune's cheek, looking up more drops hit his face as it began to rain.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?" Arabella remarked with a grin then proceeded to wave them off as Areto walked out of the house carrying three umbrellas.

She handed two of them to Jaune and Alexander as she held the third one over Arabella. Alexander sighed as he held an umbrella which looked comically small in comparison to him.

"Come on Jaune, its a few miles to the landing field."

* * *

 **Later…**

Jaune stood under the metal roof outside the sole building of Avalon's airfield. Inside his father was speaking with the station's attendants about what, he wasn't sure but nor did he care to figure out.

So instead he opted to stand outside till the airship arrived, looking around Jaune could see the outline of Avalon which was slightly obscured by the rainfall. The smell of wet dirt masked the smell of smoke and oil he would have normally smelled near the station.

As there was a mechanic shop out back where the local Bullhead constantly had to going under maintenance. It was funny in a strange way, as it was the village's only means of long distance travel or emergency vehicle in case something happened such as a kid getting lost, which Jaune found to be rather ill planned.

"So the flight should be arriving here in about twenty minutes or so." Alexander said from behind, Jaune turned to see him holding out a steaming paper cup.

"I got you some coffee; help warm you up while we wait." Jaune nodded as he took it and blew it softly to cool it down before sipping. The two of them didn't say anything as they just stood there watching the steady rainfall.

Jaune couldn't help but feel a little awkward about the whole thing. As much as he wanted to break the silence, he just couldn't as he realized that there was a small part of him that still resented his father for what he did.

Though maybe there was a good reason why he did what he did but he wasn't sure. As everyone else generally seemed to think that he knew what he was doing and trusted him in doing so. The only time he's seen anyone disagree so vehemently with him was his mother.

Yet despite the trust people have in Alexander there was also a semblance of fear in everyone when he talks to them about his father and what he hides from him. Whether that fear has to do with his father directly or the secrets his father so closely guards from him, Jaune wasn't sure.

Now though Jaune had gotten a promise from his father to learn what it is that he hides. What untold tales lay behind this imaginary shroud that Jaune saw of his father mentally.

"Jaune?" Something snapped in front of his face and he realized that his father had been snapping his fingers to gain his attention.

"I'm sorry what?" Jaune asked as he shook his head slightly.

"I was asking how you think you'll do without Aura at Beacon." Jaune tilted his head a little in thought.

"Huh, I guess I'll just have a faculty member unlock it." Alexander snorted much to Jaune's annoyance.

"Son, you do realize that if they learn that you didn't have your Aura before arriving then they'll start to suspect who you are if they haven't already figured it out and if suspicion takes root questions will soon follow, questions you can ill afford or are capable of answering. If you do give them all of the information you can or refuse to then they'll most likely eject you from Beacon thus marking you forever with the taint of expulsion from a Huntsman Academy. Which also brings up the possibly of the intelligence agencies of the Four Kingdom coming for you if they smell blood in the water and pick you up before we can. If that were to happen then you'll essentially become a political hostage, a bargaining chip in inter-Kingdom politics." Jaune sighed as he rubbed one eye.

"So I'll just have to find someone who'll unlock my Aura for me if not someone else then I'll unlock it myself and if all else fails then I'll have to make do without Aura." Alexander hummed at this.

"If that's what you feel is necessary, then so be it." Jaune looked up at his father.

"Can I ask a question?" Jaune asked and his father nodded slowly.

"Why don't you have your Aura unlocked?" Alexander didn't show any sign of reaction but Jaune got the feeling that he was thinking.

"I suppose in the simplest way of seeing it, I kept it locked by principle."

"Principle?"

"Indeed, a man who gives up what he holds as principles so readily in exchange for what is deemed as power is not a man who inspires much faith."

"So did the practice of not obtaining Aura in Arcadia start because of you?" Jaune asked but Alexander shook his head.

"I would prefer to believe that others just drew inspiration from my own actions and not so much as blind loyalty in following me in this. I do not fault anyone for having Aura; my own personal misgivings with such power shouldn't be a discouragement for others to pursue what they feel is right for them."

"So who does have Aura in our family?"

"Well your sister Katherine does, she had her Aura unlocked by your Aunt Sanian. Her husband Brin also has his aura unlocked but he doesn't really use it as much as those two. Your Aunt Lilly also has her Aura unlocked but doesn't like letting others know that, why she prefers that I haven't the faintest idea. As for your mother her choice was hers alone to make, if you want to know more you'll have to ask her. As for everyone else it's a different case for all of them, some by choice others not so much beyond that I can't say." Jaune nodded as he listened.

"It feels like I'll never understand what's going on at this point." Jaune sighed a little before his father snorted at that as well.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I were you, sometimes getting an answer does nothing more than plant the seeds to two more questions." Their conversation was cut off when the roaring of engines could be heard and a quad tiltrotor winged aircraft appeared from the north.

Rain stung Jaune's face as the powerful downdraft overtook them; the aircraft hovered overhead before it was gently set down. As the engines slowly started winding down to a standstill, a hatch on the side of the large aircraft opened and several people ran out towards the station with bags or coats over their head.

"Let's go." Alexander said as he picked up his two bags, Jaune followed suit by picking up his own bag and followed his father out into the rain.

"Ticket's please!" A man called out as he emerged in the hatchway, Alexander gave him two tickets and the man let them in.

As Jaune shook the water off his umbrella he looked around the interior of the aircraft. It was mostly wood furnishing and panels with a few metal support beams. Benches lined either side of the craft with a single row in the center.

"I'm going to go ask about the flight time, why don't you find a spot for us to sit." Alexander said, handing his bags to Jaune.

"If you see a spot next to the trash can let me know." Jaune replied as he scanned for the nearest bathroom, spotting it at the far end of the aircraft he made his way over. Setting the stuff down, Jaune sat down with his right shoulder braced against the bulkhead and shifted around so the cool metal touched his back.

Looking around the compartment Jaune could see that this flight wasn't going to have a lot of people. As he could only see five others besides him spread out.

Across from him was an elder couple who both looked to be asleep, to their left was a man in a sharp three piece suit then a woman wearing a black coat that reached down to her knees with a hood drawn over her head.

To Jaune's far left was another man in a grey suit and black trousers that had a black cloak draped over his body as he slept leaning against the bulkhead.

Shrugging Jaune stared at the ceiling as he was filled with anxiety once more, both at having to fly and the fact that he was one step closer to Beacon. He wanted to start laughing and jumping around but even he knew doing that in public would be weird at the moment.

"Ready?" Alexander's voice cut through the daydream that had started to form in Jaune's mind, he nodded a small smile spreading across his face.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

 **8 Hours Later…**

Jaune was being led out by his father from the airship; their flight hadn't been a very smooth one as the rain they took off in turned out to be a severe storm.

The Vale airport was series of large bustling buildings with airships taking off, landing, offloading passengers or going towards a separate row of hangers. The tarmac was wet as they crossed it and make it inside a large three story building, glass doors parted and the noise of the airport became clear.

People were chatting loudly, the smell of food wafted through the air mixed with the sanitary fumes of the products janitors used. Waiting outside the arrival section however was a tall man that caught Jaune's attention.

To be fair he caught a lot of people's attention, mainly women. As he was the epitome of a tall, dark, and handsome, with jet black hair that was slicked back, with a chiseled jaw along with a very well fitting suit.

Jaune already hated him.

Alas faith seemed to have other ideas as the man held a small dry eraser board with their names on it as he held it chest height.

"Zus! How pleasant to see you again, I see the Director is taking this seriously then." Alexander said as they got closer, the man smiled.

"Yes sir, I was surprised at first to hear that you're moving but when I got my mission brief I understood it a lot better." The man said his low baritone voice practically rumbled in Jaune's chest.

"Well then, let's be off." Alexander said gesturing past the man who promptly spun on his heel and headed towards the exit. Jaune and his father both moved quickly to follow him.

"So who is this guy?" Jaune asked glancing up at his father.

"Why are you asking me? He's right there." Jaune pursed his lips, he did have a point.

"Uh, Zus, was it? So, uh, who are you?" The man gave a low chuckled as they stepped outside, people moved in and out of cars that were either there to drop them off or pick them up. One car in particular had another man dressed similar to Zus standing by it, he waved at them.

"Who I am is simple; I'm just an ordinary man that follows orders and listens when I have too." Zus said as he held a car door open for them.

"That doesn't make any sense." Zus smiled as he looked at him.

"Good."

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Jaune stepped out of the hotel bathroom to see two carts laden with plates of food. Alexander and Zus were sitting at a small coffee table laughing over some drinks, or well the table only appeared small next to them.

Without even having to walk over he could smell the alcohol that they were drinking. Zus however looked like he couldn't handle his liquor as well as his father. In truth between the two men they had already finished two whole bottles of whiskey and were well into their third.

"Jaune, pick what you want to eat then get ready to sleep early. You'll have an eventful time tomorrow with the first day of school." Jaune nodded as he picked up a plate with a thick looking steak with a side of mash potatoes and broccoli.

"I tell ye sirrr, thas Aspun guy izz mishy." Zus slurred once last time before his head hit the coffee table, rattling the bottles, Jaune glanced over to see his father knocking back a full glass as if it was water.

"What was he talking about?" Jaune asked but his father just stared at him.

"Hm? Oh, Zus? Nothing important." Alexander remarked casually as he lifted the man's head to look at his face then set it gently back onto the table.

"Okay." Jaune sat in the bed and looked around the room in silence.

"So what's going to happen to our house?" Jaune asked looking at his father.

"Well I gave instructions for our belongings to be sent after we're finished packing up and have already left. As for my forge, anything that can't be taken with us will either be taken apart or donated to the village for their use." Jaune nodded again but he just felt awkward at the lack of conversation as he was unsure of what to say. His father however seemed to be thinking so he probably shouldn't really pester him with questions.

So he simply slipped back down and pulled the covers up to his chin. Excitement and anxiety flooded his stomach at tomorrow but even then he couldn't help but to smile.

He was going to become a Beacon student, to walk and study in the halls of all those that had become heroes in their own rights as they protect the world. Sure he'll have to work three times harder than any student due to his lack of combat skills but he couldn't help but feel that it was the right choice.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

* * *

 **The Next Morning…**

Jaune was walking next to his father, fiddling with the straps of his armor as they made their way to their terminal where he was to board the flight to take him to Beacon. Zus had stayed in the car, to keep it warm as he called it but Jaune suspected it was really due to the hangover he must have been feeling.

"Nervous?" Alexander asked.

"A little." Jaune lied, he was really nervous to the point that he felt like he was going to throw up already.

"I see." Alexander said mirth clear in his voice and Jaune simply shrugged as he looked around. He could see a tall guy with obvious look of disdain on his face, a buxom blonde girl next to a smaller girl with a red cloak.

There was also a white hair girl that had two men in suits standing to either side of her. Along with that there was a boy and girl who sat next to each other. Jaune felt sorry for the guy since the girl seemed to be talking like a crazy person.

Students, that's what he realized, they were all students like him. Each of them had their own weapon, training and background of trying to become a Huntsman or Huntress.

"So, there's something I need to give you before you go." Alexander said as he shrugged off a backpack and held it out towards him.

"What is it?" Jaune asked as he set his own bag down then took it, as he held it in his hands he realized what it was and was going to say something but Alexander shook his head.

"Keep it; I'm sure you're going to need it at some point." Now Jaune really wanted to throw up.

"Maybe I should have given you a garbage bag." Alexander said with a smile and Jaune elbowed him slightly.

"Thanks." Jaune said after a few moments.

"No problem son, do your best." The two embraced for a few moments before breaking away, Alexander nodded towards the airship.

"I think it's time for you to board." Jaune looked over and could see students walking up the ramp into the airship. Jaune slung the bag over his shoulder and checked to make sure Crocea Mors was still on his belt.

"Wait Jaune, I forgot something." His father called out and he turned out just to see a flash. Blinking a few times to clear his vision Jaune could see that his father was holding a camera.

"Your mother wanted me to take a picture." Jaune sighed as he turned back around and headed into the airship.

It was cool inside and the steady hum or vibration of idling engines could be felt through the floor as Jaune followed the signs to the passenger compartment. Once there he could see that there were no seats and everyone was standing up.

Some on them stood around in newly formed groups talking and making friends with each other. Others were standing by themselves, though Jaune could see the white hair girl from before being led upstairs by one of the crew members.

He made his way over towards the back of the aircraft where he simply stood in a corner. Looking out the large windows he could see the churning of water in the distance. It wasn't long before the sound of the engines started to increase and the flight crew announced that they were leaving to Beacon.

Jaune however could help but think back about the last few months. He thought about his training, his injuries, the anger he had for his father along with the fear of failing him as well and the fear for his life when confronted by the wolves.

If someone told Jaune that was how those months leading up to this point would go down, he would have called them crazy for saying such things. Now he realized that even if he had known that was going to happen back then, he would have stilled stayed on this path.

It was the path of a true hero, his destiny as he liked to think.

Even with what had almost happened with his sisters at the creek he would have done it anyways.

When he confronted the two thugs, who were hired by his father, he felt an incredible feeling of euphoria at doing so. Whether it was the prospect of violence or the glory of doing a noble act at his own expense, he wasn't sure but he knew it felt good.

Which if he had to be honest the more he thought about it, there was one thing that did frighten him.

Not for his safety or what might happen to others but in truth what would happen as result of those things. That in the end he would do nothing but prove them right by dying or failing to live up to the standards that he had preached.

That his failure would serve nothing but evidence to the ugly truth that Huntsmen and Huntresses were mostly just vainglorious thrill seekers more concerned about being the heroes of fairy tales or proving their ideals to be superior.

Now that he was on his way to Beacon he had the chance to prove that he wasn't wrong, that his family were the ones in the wrong the entire time.

Any other thought he would have had was interrupted as his mouth was flooded with saliva and the urge to vomit pushed up to his throat. Clamping his hands over his mouth he looked out the window to see that they were already in the air, crossing over the delta towards Beacon which they could see in the distance.

Another wave of nausea and Jaune leaned his head against the bulkhead as he groaned. That's when he remembered that he had some medicine just for this sort of moment and reached down to open his bag.

Looking down by his foot he didn't see it and that's when it dawned on him that he had forgot his bag, he groaned.

"I hate flying."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Alexander was now standing in private lounge where he was watching through the only window looking out at the Vale delta. In the distance he could see the airship with his son get farther and farther away. Inside h

* * *

could feel a small part of him twisting in remorse at seeing another child of his going off into the world alone.

Yet, he knew that he was also proud of Jaune. He did was he believed was right even after everything that happened to him both by his hand and by natures.

Just another thing for him to be ashamed of that he had to add to the list that he's been accumulating over the many years. When the time comes for him to pay for what he's done, he'll at least be happy for atoning for what he did to his children.

"Sir." A deep voice said from behind.

"How goes it Zus? Are the assets in place?" Alexander asked but Zus didn't respond straight away.

"They were."

"Were?"

"It seems that there's something of a snag."

"I may be an old warrior Zus but even I know that snags in your line of work means bad things, so what happened?"

"Someone's following our agents already, we don't know who yet but the Director wants us to find out before proceeding with the original plan." Zus explained.

"Any ideas on who is it?"

"Negative, all we know is that they seem to have a semblance."

"So then it might be a Huntsman or Huntress."

"Do you think one of the Kingdom's are already following us?" Alexander shook his head.

"Maybe but we can't be sure yet until we get more information on this. What about the other objectives I asked the Director to look into?" Zus nodded.

"It seems target Gold had a confrontation with target Romeo earlier, there were two additional actors in play. One of which is a young girl that got pushed two years forward on the behest of target Omega. The other actor we have yet to identify but surveyors reported that it whoever they were, they held their own quite easily against target Gold." Alexander hummed.

"What about target Sierra?"

"No data has been collected." Alexander sighed.

"Thank you Zus, I'll get into contact with the Director and see what we can do from here. You're dismissed now."

"Actually, sir, there's one more thing." Zus said and Alexander turned around to look at the man.

Zus was holding onto a very familiar bag. He looked up at him and shrugged before holding it out for him to get a closer look. Alexander lifted up a tag on the side where a name was scrawled on and sighed.

"Damn it Jaune."

* * *

 **I'm Alive!**

 **Yes I know it's been awhile but I had some things to deal with and I was stuck brainstorming for The Lost Son and A Dance of Death so I just couldn't find a way to finish them in time. In fact I cut this chapter in half as I'm rewriting the second half from the ground up.**

 **Now onwards to the story.**

 **I see that there were some, opinions, of the last chapter. Which is good as that's what I wanted to see, knowing what's working and what isn't is important to be brought up sooner than later when damage is already done.**

 **Here you see some of the answers to the questions that have been laid out in front of me. Though be mindful that just because something's answered doesn't mean it's fully explained, as I can give you an yes or no answer but I won't necessarily explain the process of reaching those answers.**

 **Now I shall address a concern or two here as well: If this is a 40k mixed story, shouldn't it be in the crossover section?**

 **Well yes and no as it's not a pure RWBY/40K story but has roots in a number of other ideas. So I feel no need to put it in the specific category as that more or less limits the expectations of elements. I'll give you a hint, one's the pitcher and the other kills kings apparently. The whole purpose isn't to just toss in the other elements but to try and mix it together into a more seamless story, like a quilt, each item is unique but fitted together they make something whole. Though I have no doubt that I could make it completely seamless as I'm not a professional grade writer there will be spots where the fabric gets a little weak in said seams. To summarize, no I won't be shifting this story to the Crossover section of my own volition.**

 **Anyway I still encourage each and every one of you, that reads mine or any other story you find on this site, to leave a review whether it was good or bad. Or even just say what comes to mind when reading as I for one, always enjoy seeing what people who read my stories have to say.**

 **Till Next time!**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jaune slowly made his way through the massive courtyard leading to Beacon. It turns out that puking your guts out can be rather tiresome though his fatigue may in fact have to do with the embarrassment of already being known as the guy who threw up on the airship.

He wondered if that blonde girl whose boots suffered from the first wave of vomiting hated his guts, though he doubted he'd ever get the chance to ask her. As she was far too pretty for a guy like him on top of that the chances of actually running into her was probably not that big.

Looking around once more he had to admit that Beacon was a marvelous sight. Everything looked amazing from the trees to the cobblestone ground of the main avenue which led right towards the heart of Beacon.

If Jaune had to guess the distance to walk from the landing pads to Beacon was at least three or four miles. It may however just look larger due to the throngs of incoming students, all of whom were excited to be here.

A small explosion however caught his attention further up; a cloud of smoke with sparks of electricity and the sound of ice being cracked could be heard.

People immediately backed away or gave it a wide berth which irritated Jaune, why would they ignore something like that? Someone could have gotten really hurt from something like that.

Walking closer he could see the white hair girl and a girl with a red cloak talking to each other. Well talking wasn't the right word, more like a one sided rant.

"Uh, are you girls alright?" He asked interrupting the white hair girl's rant; the two of them looked at him. The girl in the red cloak looked at him as if he was her savior while the other girl looked like she wanted to castrate him.

"I'll be fine if she stays away from me." White said.

"I told you already it was an accident!" The red girl broke in her voice rising in pitch as she defended herself.

"If this is what you call an accident I'd hate to see what you do when you try." Jaune held up his hands.

"Look whatever happened, happened but now that it's clear that no one is hurt I think apologies are due from both of you." The white hair girl glared daggers at him.

"Why should I!? I'm the victim here!"

"Let me explain please." She crossed her arms impatiently; Jaune looked at the cloaked girl.

"Okay, so while you may say that this is an accident I think you should say sorry despite that and you shouldn't be so harsh. As accidents do happen all the time even if the people involved don't wish for it to happen." The girl in the red cloaked looked down at her boots while the white hair girl just glared daggers at him.

"I'm sorry." The girl in red said.

"You should be." The other girl responded.

"Come on now." Jaune started to say but she cut him off.

"No. I don't need to apologize for this, she ran into my stuff, she set off my Dust, she's clearly in the wrong so she needs to understand that, coddling her isn't going to make this better. Now if you excuse me I have better things to do than listen to the whining of a girl far too young to be here and a naïve boy." Jaune just shrugged as the snow hair girl left.

"You didn't have to do that." A quiet voice said from behind and he looked down to see the young girl sitting on the ground. Her cloak was wrapped around her and the hood was up. She honestly looked like a blob of red smacked down middle of the pathway next to a black mark of where they had blown up.

"It's not a problem I know you didn't do it on purpose." Jaune said as he kneeled next to her, in the corner of his eye he could see a black hair girl watching them from a distance.

"Thanks." The young girl finally said and Jaune felt a smile grow on his face as she peeked out to look at him. He stood up and held his hand out towards her.

"I'm assuming you're a student here, if so you probably don't want to sit on the ground like that." The young girl squeaked as she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. She pushed back her hood, silver eyes met his and recognition flooded them.

"Wait a minute aren't you the guy who threw up?"

* * *

 **Later…**

Pyrrha Nikos moved silently through the entrance of the auditorium where the incoming students had all come to gather. She made sure to stick towards the back as she didn't want to get rushed by another group of students.

It seemed her fame preceded her like always, ever since she's arrived in Vale, reporters, civilians and students have hounded her every step until she was able to get on the airship. The captain, a pleasant old man, had taken pity on her and allowed her to stay on the bridge until they arrived in order to give her some peace of mind.

Even there though she ended up getting badgered by a Schnee of all people, she'd have figured the girl would have attended Atlas. There she would have easily gotten the student body to eat out of her hand, alas Pyrrha had to sit and listen to the girl as she talked.

As much as it angers and saddens her to the consequence of her fame, she couldn't bring herself to be mean to the people. For if it wasn't for them that she started the tournament fighting, it was for her family.

"Thereismysistergottagobye!" A girl shouted from her right and she could see a red cloak fluttering away leaving a tall blond teen alone. He sighed and said something but Pyrrha didn't hear what it was. As she was more fascinated by how he looked.

He was tall with simple white plates that looked a little too small that went over a black hoodie, jeans and sneakers with a sword sheathed at his waist. Had it not been for the armor and weapon she would have thought that he was somehow in the wrong place.

Pyrrha's keen eye however couldn't help but noticing that beyond simple appearances there was something more to him. She could tell that he had a lean but powerful body with training as she could see it in the way he walked as if subconsciously aware of his movement.

At the same time she noticed, almost imperceptibly, that he favored one leg over the other. Along with that she could see how he unconsciously put his hand on his shoulder as if to massage it.

Was it an old injury? She couldn't be sure nor could she just ask as that would be rude plus she wouldn't want to risk him freaking out in excitement at seeing her.

It was bad enough being popular in everyday life but when people at schools like Sanctum fawned over her but keep a far too formal distance, making friends and even talking to people becomes a challenge. Though that hasn't stopped her before as there's one trait or flaw in some cases that Pyrrha always accepted.

It was her desire for a challenge.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Jaune sat in the boys changing room massaging his leg, for some reason it had been aching ever since the assembly where he listened to Headmaster Ozpin give a really awkward speech. On a side note he couldn't help but feel like he heard that name or at least something like it recently.

"Well lad, it seems you've already started acquiring some battle scars." A voice boomed from above and Jaune looked up to see an older man with a bushy mustache and eyebrows.

"Uh, I suppose." The man held up a hand.

"Fear not lad, I'm Professor Port, I teach Grimm Studies. Right now though I'm merely making sure no young lad decides to go take a gander at the ladies changing room but I couldn't help but notice you massaging your leg."

"Okay but what makes you say that I've got battle scars?" Jaune asked as he straightened up.

"A few things actually, for one a young man like yourself would only be massaging a body part if something ached and since you haven't exercised that led to the thought that something else is bothering you. Along with that I saw that you also were massaging just one shoulder earlier as if it was stiff. Secondly I can see the scars on your leg quite clearly." The professor point at his leg, multiple dark sunken scars marred the back of Jaune's leg that clearly contrasted his skin color.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed, now I admire your hunger for battle but when your Aura is nearly or completely depleted, it's better to make a tactical withdrawal or as I like to call it advancing to the rear. Trust me I learned that at your age as well when I decided to see if I could take on the denizens of the Outlands. Alas even I wasn't able to keep an eye all around me when I fought a whole Beowolf pack barehanded since my trusty weapon was stuck in the ribcage of a Beowolf that had yet to dissolve." The professor began to go on a long tale of what Jaune could assume was one of many adventures he went on in his youth. However Jaune didn't want to listen to it so he covered up his leg and slowly stood up then walked away. The professor never even noticed him leaving.

As soon as Jaune was out of the locker room, Port stopped talking and looked towards the exit as he pulled out his scroll.

He had a message to send.

* * *

 **The Next Morning…**

Jaune cursed horrendously as he looked for his equipment locker. He had written the number down on his hand but he should have known it would smear when he washed his hands.

Around him Ruby and her sister Yang were talking while Weiss was talking to some red head. For some reason he could have sworn that she looked familiar.

What really caught his attention however was the fact that they stood next to his locker.

"I mean aside from letting things be decided randomly if you want we can team up?" Weiss said to the taller girl who looked really apprehensive.

"Uh, excuse me." Jaune softly interrupted and Weiss snapped her head towards him while glaring icy daggers at him.

"Can't you see we're having a conversation here? What gives you the right to interject yourself into it? Don't you know who this is?" Weiss said gesturing to the red head, who gave a small wave and an apologetic smile.

"Hello there!" She said abnormally loud.

"Uh, hi?" Jaune scrunched up his face as he replied then pointed towards his locker.

"That's actually my locker by the way, so if you don't mind." Weiss groaned as she stepped back letting him to his locker, as he was putting in the code Weiss crossed her arms.

"Do you really not know who this is?" Jaune shook his head.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss said gesturing towards the red head again.

"Okay, nice to meet you Pyrrha, name's Jaune Arc." Jaune said simply as he pulled the bag that his father gave him from the locker out.

Had he been looking at her he would have seen the bright smile on her face at his casual greeting. Weiss sputtered incoherently but Jaune was already ignoring her as she's been nothing but a pain in his ass ever since he met her.

"You as well Jaune if you don't mind me asking but what is that you're putting on?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh it's just a bag for me to wear." Jaune said as he double checked that the straps were all in place and tightly secured.

"Why do you have it?" Weiss asked.

"My dad gave it to me."

"Why would he do that?" Pyrrha asked but Jaune simply shrugged.

"If I knew why my old man did what he did half the time I would probably be the smartest person in the world." The two girls looked at each other and Pyrrha seemed like she was about to say something but a voice boomed from somewhere calling all of them out to the cliffs.

"We should get going, come on Pyrrha." Weiss said and Pyrrha seemed to hesitate but reluctantly walked with her.

"Bye Jaune." She said as she walked away and Jaune flashed a smile before pulling Crocea Mors out from the locker. As he strapped the belt on he looked up to see Ruby and her sister Yang standing in front of him.

"Come on! It's time!" Ruby said hopping up and down a little in excitement.

"What's with you?" Jaune asked as the three of them walked out of the equipment room.

"Oh I'm just finally excited to be doing something I'm good at." Ruby said as she walked ahead of Yang and him.

"And what's that?" Jaune asked as he followed the two of them.

"Anything but having to talk with strangers."

"But Sis, we don't even know what we're doing yet. Maybe it's a meet and greet. You know to have all the newbies like us meet each other." Yang pointed out and Ruby snorted.

"Come on Yang, it's obvious that they're gonna have us fight to show off our skills. Besides that we both know that there's talk of them assigning us teams." Jaune gulped a little at that idea. As his leg and shoulder still ached so he'd rather not risk failing as result of them.

"What's a matter vomit boy? You're looking a little green there." Yang said as she took a few deliberate steps away from him.

"Please aim it away if you really are going to throw up." She said but Jaune chuckled as he shook his head.

"I'm not going to throw up…I think…no I'm just a little nervous at what they're going to have us do." He could see Yang grinning at that as she cracked her knuckles. He couldn't help but noticed the strange, thick looking bracelets around her wrists. It occurred to him that they were probably her weapons.

"Oooh I can't wait to get out there and knock some heads together."

"Do you like fighting?" Jaune asked and Yang seemed to mull it over a little.

"Well I wouldn't necessarily say that in this case but more so the competition and thrill of it. Sure I don't want anyone to get hurt needlessly but it doesn't matter since if we do fight since it'll be against each other and since we all have Aura no one is going to get hurt anyways." Yang said as they continued down a hallway with Ruby in the lead talking about how she constructed her weapon.

"Speaking of which, what's your semblance?" Yang asked looking at him.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Your semblance dude, what is it if you don't mind me asking." Yang repeated and Jaune just shrugged.

Yang tilted her head a little before realization dawned on her face. Jaune felt a momentary pang of fear as the thought that she realized that he didn't have Aura passed through his mind.

"Crap. You don't know your semblance yet? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Yang said her face scrunching up in sympathy.

"No! No, its fine Yang and I'm not too worried about it so it's fine." Jaune hurriedly said while trying to steer away from the topic. They finally pushed their way through a set of double doors that led outside again; Jaune could see a sprawling forest in the distance past Beacon's cliffs.

That's when it dawned on him why his father gave him the bag. Which instantly made him want to throw it aside but he had already put it on so there was no point in taking it off again. Jaune and the others made it closer to Deputy Headmistress Goodwitch and Headmaster Ozpin.

"Please stand on the platforms before you." Goodwitch called out and Jaune tentatively stood on the grey platform. He kneeled down, tapping the surface with his knuckles.

"Metal?" Jaune mused to himself before standing up straight as he could see Headmaster Ozpin looking at him. It wasn't so much a stare as it was just simply observation, as if Jaune was nothing more than a simple puzzle for him to decipher.

Jaune couldn't help but notice that he also was glancing at Ruby as he stared at a tablet Scroll that he carried in the crook of one arm. He seemed impatient for some reason, Jaune wasn't sure maybe it was the way he kept looking at the tablet but maybe Jaune was just imagining it.

"Alright. Everyone is here? Good." Goodwitch called out before looking at Ozpin who stepped forward, handing the tablet to Goodwitch.

"You're all here today after spending years of commitment in training your bodies and mind. Now we'll see if that hard work has truly paid off." He started off by saying and Jaune couldn't help but feel that he was looking in his general direction. Whether he was actually looking at him or Ruby, he wasn't sure.

"Now before we get any farther." Ozpin said before stepping back as Goodwitch stepped forward once more.

"We're aware of the rumors and discussions that have been going around regarding teams. Allow me to puts those to rest, as of today your teams will be decided." Jaune swore he heard the whimpering of Ruby at that.

"The people you will find yourself in a team with will be your teammates for the rest of your time here." Ozpin called out and now Jaune was sure that Ruby was whimpering.

"So choice wisely as the first person you make eye contact will be your partner for as long as you are here at this Academy." Ozpin continued oblivious to the sense of remorse that filtered out from Ruby and the general unease of the others teens.

"Once you're in the Emerald Forest and have found a partner. You will be required to head north where a ruined temple waits for you with relics that each pair must attain. Failure to attain said relics will lead to the immediate dismissal from this Academy. A fair warning for you all, along the way you will find the Creatures of Grimm in there. You have a limited number of choices, kill them, evade them, flee from them, or die. The faculty will be monitoring your progress and grading you on your performance but we will not be lending any assistance. Sink or swim this is where you really prove that you deserve to be here." Jaune felt himself grow cold at the idea of being kicked out from Beacon; at least if he died he wouldn't have to bare the shame of seeing his family again.

"Now, any questions?" Ozpin asked but before anyone could raise their hand, he flashed them all a knowing smile.

"Good, let's begin." At his words, the platforms began to spring upward with enough force to send each person standing on them into the air with extreme force.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jaune murmured as he watched Yang go sailing into the air.

"Remember to pull the cord Mr. Arc." Ozpin called out to him but before Jaune could say anything the platform sprang up.

Jaune felt an intense pressure on his body as he went upward. It didn't last long however and for a second he felt as if he was floating.

That thought was dashed as the inevitable pull of gravity started to drag him downwards. Spinning around he could see a sea of green canopies below him. A few openings gave way to small clearings and ponds but he couldn't see any sign of a temple.

Tucking his arms and legs straight he shot downwards, he could see Yang sailing across the treetops and the red blip of Ruby reaching the trees before disappearing.

The wind roared in his ears and his eyes dried out faster than he could blink so he kept them closed. Counting down from ten he waited till the last second to pull a small cord on the left strap of his bag.

There was a ripping sound and Jaune was jerked back with a teeth rattling force. However his descent into the forest was slowed down by an incredible margin and he started to laugh. Within a few seconds though it was abruptly interrupted as he heard yelling in the distance, yelling that sounded a lot like a warning.

Jaune's descent stopped and he found himself being pulled sideways as something snagged his hood. The parachute however interfered with the objects momentum and Jaune's vision spun as he hurtled towards the forest again.

"Shit! Shit! SHIT!" Jaune yelled as hurtled towards the trees. Tucking his legs and arms in again he braced himself as he made contact with the tree tops. Breaking through the smaller branches he bounced off a tree truck.

Arms flailing at his sides there was an explosion of pain as Jaune hit another branch his back. He could hear the parachute ripping as he continued to fall.

Looking up he could see what had altered his descent, a red and gold spear that tumbled above him. Any other thought he might have had was soon wiped away as he hit the ground, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

As he tried to breathe again his vision was beginning to constrict at the edges and going black as he looked up again. The last thing he saw was the spear falling towards him.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Pyrrha sprinted through the forest, she needed to find him and see if he was okay. She hadn't expected him to have a parachute on him, which in hindsight made was pretty clear but none of them knew that they would be flung off a cliff.

So when she saw him fall to the forest in the uncontrolled descent she felt fear grip her heart. What if he had gotten seriously hurt or worse because of her? She wasn't sure how she'd be able to live with herself at that idea.

As she leapt over a fallen tree, she was surprised to see Weiss being followed by the short girl, Ruby if she remember correctly, in front of her. The two girls turned towards her as she got closer to them, a smile of relief spread across Weiss's face.

"Pyrrha! Am I glad to see you, do you have a partner yet?" She asked and Pyrrha shook her head.

"No, are you two partners?" Pyrrha asked before Weiss could answer, Ruby zipped in putting her arm around her shoulder with a joyful smile on her pale face.

"Yup! We're partners and we're going to be the best partners on the most awesome team of all time, ever!"

"Hey, have you two seen Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she looked around.

"What about him?" Ruby asked as she tilted her head a little.

"I saw him fall and needed to meet up with him to see if he's okay plus he's got my weapon." Ruby frowned.

"Wait, why does he have your weapon?"

"It doesn't matter, have you seen him or not?" They both shook their heads.

"Well I should get going." Pyrrha said as she started to walk away.

"We'll come with you! Jaune's my friend as well, if he's hurt like you think then I want to help." Ruby called out but Pyrrha shook her head.

"No it's fine, you've already got your partner, so you should start heading to the temple now." Ruby looked like she was going to say something else but Weiss took her arm and started pulling her away.

"Come on, if she wants to waste her time looking for him then it's none of our business." She said and soon Pyrrha was left alone again in the forest.

Normally she would just use her semblance to help locate Miló as it was practically a natural function for her to manipulate it even from a certain distance. It seemed however that she was much farther than she was used too as even with her semblance she could only get a general ping of direction of where it was.

In the distance, she could hear the sound of wolves howling but she knew that they weren't any normal creature.

"Beowolves."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

He awoke with a jerk, in the distance he could hear howls echoing through the forest. In his mind, the vision of his encounter with the wolves played out once more.

In the corner of his eye he could see a bronze and red spear embedded in the ground. He could feel the cold metal against his ear and it dawned on him that he had been incredibly close to death.

As he turned away, his body screamed in pain which brought the memory of the pain that the bites the wolves had given but spread across his entire body. Every breath he took made his back twitch in painful spasms.

Which remembered him of hitting his back on one of the branches and panic flooded his brain. He turned back onto his back and with some effort he managed to raise himself onto his elbows.

Looking down at his legs he could see that they looked normal, and with a deep breath he raised his right leg. Much to his relief he could feel the strain as it rose and he started to laugh as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. His celebration was cut short as more howls could be heard along with the sound of thunder, which could only be one thing.

Combat.

He was still in the middle of Beacon's initiation, he needed to find a partner and find the relics then head back to Beacon. Looking up once more he could faintly see the sun was reaching its zenith in the sky.

Getting back on his feet he began to stretch, trying to loosen his body before glancing up again to inspect his ruined parachute. It was caught up in the branches too far to salvage, he hated leaving something that might be useful behind.

Using the sun, he turned in the direction of what he thought was north and drew Crocea Mors. It had been a while since the last time he had held the sword and shield but he felt more ready than ever to wield it.

As he was about to leave he remembered that there was something else there that might be useful. He turned to see the bronze and gold spear still stuck, tip first, in the ground.

He had to wonder who in their right mind would throw a spear at someone. Shaking his head he sheathed Crocea Mors and returned it to his belt as he pulled the weapon out of the ground.

As it came free from the dirt something peculiar started to happened, as he was holding onto it with both hands he could feel something pulling on it.

Shrugging he turned back north and started to walk. Hopefully he'll find a partner soon but he didn't really know anyone at the moment that he'd like to partner up with.

Ruby was nice if not a little eccentric but that couldn't be helped as she was no doubt still coming to terms about being accepted into Beacon early.

Yang, who probably was still a little upset about Jaune throwing up near her, seemed to be nice. Though she was also a little rambunctious, which Jaune wasn't sure if that would end well with him since she seemed to like fighting a lot. Which meant it would be easier for her to find out that he didn't have his Aura unlocked.

Then there was Weiss, who definitely didn't like him. Though in truth he didn't really like her as much as well, since her apparent status made her a little, prickly, to be around.

The last one would be Pyrrha but Jaune didn't know anything about her technically so she was out of the equation as well. Looking down at the spear again he realized that the spear however may belong to her. If he recalled correctly her outfit seemed to match the color scheme of the weapon but why would she throw it at him?

Questions for later he supposed, he'll just have to hold onto it until he saw her again. He would also have to use it for now since he didn't have any way to carry it, spinning the weapon around slowly with both hands he could feel that it was very well balanced.

Nodding to himself he set off into the forest.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Pyrrha grunted as she flung Akoúo at leaping Beowolf, the bronze shield smashed into the Grimm's sternum. As she willed it to return to her, she ducked a claw swipe from another Beowolf before somersaulting over a third.

As she landed in crouch, she immediately dove to the left and brought her shield up in time to block the claws of another Beowolf. Slipping around it she threw her shield at the back of its head, the bronze shield cleaved into its skull.

Running forward she ran up the falling body and used it as a springboard, drawing her shield towards her, it flew back to her hand. Only for her to spin in air, hurling the shield at a charging Beowolf, the bronze shield struck it in the throat with bone crunching force before rebounding back to her as she caught it again before landing on the forest floor.

She quickly leapt backwards avoiding another strike then hurled the shield like a discus at the last Beowolf; the bronze shield hit it in its snarling mouth. The creature however didn't react fast enough so the shield cleaved its head in two.

As the shield returned to her arm, Pyrrha looked around at the dissolving bodies, nothing stirred. Taking a deep breath she could smell smoke in the distance, apparently someone had decided to set the forest on fire. She hoped that it didn't go out of control because that's the last thing she'd want to deal with today.

Activating her semblance again she could feel the pull of Miló much clearer now, it had begun to move so she had been picking up pace which unfortunately caused her to run into the Beowolves.

With that being said if Miló was moving then that was a good sign but it was heading away from her, if she wanted to have Miló before it was too late she'll have to move faster.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

"Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie are partnered up, though I don't imagine that they'll be getting along so well." Goodwitch remarked.

"I wouldn't be so sure Glynda, those two came here together I have a feeling they'll leave together." Ozpin replied coolly as he monitored the young reaper, Ruby, as she struggled to get her new partner to work with her.

"Also it seems that there are still two people who are still in the initiation that have yet to find a partner, Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. Though I still can't wrap my head around why you accepted him, his transcripts were obviously forged, none of the combat schools recognized him or his, Huntress, as it's claimed on the form." Glynda said as she looked over at the Headmaster.

"I accepted him because while the form was a lie, the name behind it were clearly real."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean his name; it's a name that has rung over the many battlefields that have transpired over the decades, even centuries on Remnant, a name that comes from a forgotten time in which the world was covered in darkness and war. Arc" Ozpin said as he looked up to the sky, Glynda frowned.

"Them? I thought they were holing themselves up in their own Kingdom, not caring about we do?"

"It wouldn't be the first time we've had an Arc under our tutelage."

"Really?"

"Yes really, in fact it was the eldest Arc child if memory serves me correctly. So I suppose he's simply following in her footsteps." Ozpin remarked as he swiped through video feeds on his tablet.

"Then why hide?" Ozpin sighed.

"Now that's something I don't know anything about." Glynda snorted.

"I doubt that, you've got to have at least some speculation about this." Ozpin simply sipped his mug.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Besides that it's not as if the Four Kingdoms have been very open with them, even Vale has made a few missteps in dealing with them. We pushed them away and now for the most part they want nothing to do with us. Which one would imagine would leave them in a dire situation since they have to defend themselves alone out there which is difficult enough for the Four Kingdoms or so that is what the Atlas, Mistral and Vale all believe. Vacuo however believes that they've endured if not thrived in their years of isolation." Ozpin said.

"Do you agree with them?"

"I don't know but for the times being with what we know I would have to agree. What they had done during the Great War and the Faunus Revolution has left many memories of the carnage they wrought. War for them is second nature."

"If war if second nature, should we really keep him here?" Glynda asked and Ozpin flashed a knowing smile at her.

"Yes."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Jaune could feel his lungs burning as he dove behind a fallen tree. Thirty meters away from him, a Beowolf slowly moved out from behind a rock, it had been following him for the past five minutes.

It had yet to find him but it knew he was nearby that much Jaune was sure. Covering his mouth with his left hand he slowly brought his racing heart back down as he gripped the spear with his other hand.

As much as he wanted to fight he couldn't help but feel a wave of trepidation. At that moment he could hear the Beowolf growl louder, Jaune gripped the spear with two hands now as he took slow deep breathes.

He needed to act fast and act smart. Had his legs decided to listen to him, he would have stood up to fight but they didn't. Jaune could feel his legs begin to shake with fear.

Jaune could hear the beast creeping closer to him, he kept thinking that he needed to act fast but he if he leapt up at the wrong time then the Beowolf would claw him to pieces. The spear wobbled and suddenly pressed against his chest with enough force that Jaune was afraid it'll break his ribs.

Thankfully the pressure relaxed but Jaune realized that the Beowolf was practically on top of him. Slowly looking up he could see the lumbering form come into view, the creature snarled and raised one clawed paw.

However someone started to yell, it sounded very familiar, and then the Beowolf lurched forward over the fallen tree. Jaune rolled the side as the Grimm tumbled on the spot he just sat at and he could see a bronze shield embedded into its back.

"Over here!" The voice shouted again and Jaune turned to see the redhead, Pyrrha, Jaune instantly hopped over the tree and headed towards her. She raised her hand and Jaune was surprised to see the bronze shield flying back towards her.

"I think you're missing this." Jaune said as he closed the distance between them. Pyrrha flashed a quick smile as they met eyes and he gave the spear back.

"Thanks, now let's kill this Alpha and we can get out of here." She said spinning the spear around and Jaune was surprised to see it shifting into a short sword.

"Alpha?" He asked as he drew Crocea Mors and activated his shield then face the Grimm as it climbed back up to face them.

"Of course, look at the size of it and the bone spikes on its back and well now's not the time to discuss this. Are you hurt?" She asked glancing over at him as she circled to the right.

"I'm a little banged up, but I'm good to go, you?" Jaune replied as he circled left.

"Banged up?" She asked but didn't get any farther as the Beowolf roared then sprinted on all fours at Jaune.

It was almost felt as if everything slowed down around him while he took a single deep breath before releasing it. The Beowolf raised its right arm and swiped it at him but Jaune crouched angling his shield a little as the claws reached him.

The impact sent painful tremors up his arm but it did the trick of deflecting the blow as he stepped inward towards its right. Pivoting to the right he swung Crocea Mors down and the blade bit into the back of its knee.

More tremors traveled up his arm as if he had hit a solid piece of wood but alas it was nothing but flesh and bone. The Grimm roared in pain only to be silenced as Pyrrha came leaping at it, swinging her sword downwards it cut the snout of the Beowolf in two.

As she landed on her feet she quickly spun around and Jaune watched in awe as she threw her sword which impaled the side of the Grimm's skull.

Jaune watched as it fell with a thud on the forest floor. He could see thin trails of black smoke starting to emerge from the Grimm; Pyrrha walked up to it and pulled her sword out with ease.

"Well that was quicker than I expected." She said as she turned towards him and Jaune felt a slight wave of annoyance.

"Really? Did you not think I could handle myself?" He asked as he collapsed his shield then sheathed Crocea Mors before returning it to his belt. Pyrrha's eyes widened in realization and she shook her head.

"Oh! Wait! No that's not what I meant, I, I was just thinking about what you said about being banged up and thought your Aura must be low for that to happen." Jaune couldn't help but feel like he should point out that it couldn't be low at all since he didn't have it unlocked but he resisted that urge.

"Ah, well its fine." Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head then a started to smile before extending a hand towards her.

"Well I guess this makes us partners now." Pyrrha looked down at his hand in surprised and Jaune wondered if that wasn't the right move but she took his hand.

"Partners it is then."

* * *

 **Later…**

Jaune and Pyrrha pushed through the forest, they hadn't run into the other initiates and neither have they run into another Grimm since they slew the Beowolf. Jaune for one was quite thankful as his body ached all over from the day's events so he'd rather not go and fight anything else.

His hands still shook at little from the encounter with the Beowolf, he always knew that Grimm were described as monsters but seeing one up close felt completely different. The mere presence of it had made Jaune's skin crawl and sent his heart racing with adrenaline.

Glancing over at Pyrrha who was busy keeping an eye around their surroundings, he could see that she seemed completely fine.

"So, uh, where are you from?" Jaune finally decided to ask, breaking the silence that had been going on since they started making their way north together.

"Do you really not know?" She asked glancing back at him with puzzlement evident on her face.

"Crap, is it an accent thing? Cause I'm terrible with accents." Pyrrha smiled and shook her head.

"No, I'm just; well, sort of famous I guess so I'm actually surprised that you don't know who I am." Jaune tilted his head a little.

"Famous? Like movie celebrity famous?" She shook her head again.

"More like sports famous." Jaune rubbed his chin for a second.

"Yea I still don't know, never really watched a lot of sports."

"Fair enough, I'm the same way I guess, never really liked to watch others play when I could be doing the same thing." Pyrrha replied.

"Well, if you don't mind me asking why'd you come to Beacon then? I mean if you liked playing the sport then why not pursue a career in it?" Jaune asked and Pyrrha seemed to mull it over for a little bit.

"To be honest becoming a Huntress and participating in the Tournaments were sort of the same thing in theory and in some sense practice. I learned how to control my semblance much better and gauge mine or my opponents Aura. So while the Creatures of Grimm don't have Aura I would know how to react based on the Auras of those around me from my experience of fighting." Jaune tilted his head again in confusion.

"Fighting? What kind of sport were you in?" Pyrrha frowned briefly as she glanced at him before looking away.

"I've been participating in the Mistral Regional Tournaments for the past four years." That's when it finally clicked for Jaune.

"Ohhhhhhh, you're the girl that got featured on Pumpkin Pete's." He said looking back at her and Pyrrha laughed.

"Yes, I'm the girl that's on Pumpkin Pete's."

"Man, I love that stuff."

"I hear a lot of people like it, shame it's not really good for you." Jaune chuckled.

"Sometimes you just wanna drink of bowl of sugary milk and for me Pumpkin Pete's is the best brand." In the corner of his eye he could see Pyrrha smiling a little and he felt happy to see that.

The smiles that both of them had fell away as they came into a small clearing next to a small cliff, there they could see a dark opening of a cave.

"Think this is it?" Jaune asked as he rested his left hand on the handle of Crocea Mors but Pyrrha shook her head.

"No, the Headmaster said that we should be looking for a temple and besides that I don't see anyone else here." Pyrrha pointed out.

"I guess you're right, we should continue north." Jaune said and the two continued on however something screeched loudly in the distance above them. Looking up Jaune was surprised to see a massive bird in the sky heading north as well.

"That's a large Nevermore." Pyrrha noted.

"Yea but there's something on it, something red on the talon I think, I can't see so well." Jaune said and Pyrrha pulled Miló off her back. Jaune could hear the mechanisms clicking as it shifted into a rifle, aiming it upward Pyrrha looked at the Nevermore again.

"You're not going to believe this but its Weiss Schnee and her partner, Ruby." Pyrrha reported and Jaune snapped his head up again.

"Ruby!? What direction is it going?" Jaune asked and Pyrrha pointed north.

"It looks like they're going the same way as us."

"Then let's get a move on!" Jaune said as he stretched himself for the long run, wincing at the flashes of pain over his body. Making a mental note that he was going to need to look into getting some bandages as he no doubt had more than a few cuts on him. Hopping up and down a little he looked at Pyrrha who nodded in return. The two teens immediately took off into the forest.

* * *

 **Later…**

Jaune was panting heavily as the trees finally started to thin out and the two of them found themselves in a large clearing. To one side they could see a stone structure with a few people standing near it while in the complete opposite end was the cliffs.

However Jaune could see what looked to be another large structure there was well.

Above them they could see the Nevermore circling high in the sky, too far for any chance of someone to hit it at the moment.

"Vomit boy! Over here!" A familiar voice called out and Jaune turned to his left to see a blonde figure standing next to a distinct red blob.

"Uh, I think she's calling us over." Pyrrha said who was barely winded herself.

"Yea…I…noticed." Jaune managed to say between deep breathes, Pyrrha frowned.

"Are you okay Jaune? You seemed really tired, I must have been right to suspect your Aura took a big hit for you to be like this." Pyrrha said but Jaune waved her off.

"I'm…fine, it's nothing to worry about." Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, she didn't want to say it but she definitely didn't believe him. He was sweating, breathing heavily, and looked to be dead on his feet. That wasn't normal, she didn't even remember the last time she felt as tired as he looked.

"Come on." Jaune said as he started to jog again towards the figures in the distance. As they got closer Pyrrha could see a buxom blonde girl with a black hair girl standing silently behind her. Weiss and Ruby were already at the temple picking up what she assumed were the relics.

There was also an orange hair girl who surprisingly was skipping around as she hummed. She was heading to a teen with a pink strip of hair that also looked like he was catching his breath as well. Though Pyrrha suspected it had to do with the other girl than his physical condition.

"Jeez Jaune, you look like you've been through the wringer." Yang said grimacing at the sight of him.

"Ah, well, let's just say there was a snag or two with my landing strategy." Jaune said before walking up towards the ruined temple. Pyrrha however had winced when he said that as she was technically the cause of his misfortune.

"Hey, you're Pyrrha Nikos right?" The blonde girl asked as she stepped closer and Pyrrha nodded.

"Yes, and you are?" Yang grinned as she held a hand out.

"Yang Xiao Long." Pyrrha shook her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"So what's up with the Nevermore? We saw Ruby and Weiss riding on it earlier which is why we came running here as fast as we could." Pyrrha asked but Yang sighed as she shrugged as if she had already given up trying to figure it out.

"To be honest I stopped asking how Ruby does some of the things she does years ago."

"Oh, are you two friends?" Pyrrha asked tilting her head a little but Yang shook her head, a sad smile appearing on her face for a second.

"No, we're actually step-sisters."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Pyrrha said but Yang held up a hand.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong."

"I hate to break up this conversation but do either of you know what we're going to do about Nevermore? It's not leaving plus it's between us and the cliffs." The black hair girl interrupted.

"Blake, come on, we can take that thing easily." Yang said as a wanton grin grew on her face.

"I'm not sure it's going to come down here for you to get in a punching contest with it." Blake replied flatly.

"We don't have to fight it; we all have our relics now we just need to get back." Ruby called out as she and Weiss joined them.

"What piece did you pick?" Yang asked and Ruby held up a golden knight piece.

"Good choice." Yang said with a smile as she held up her own.

"I'm not so sure about that actually." Jaune spoke up as he and the two other initiates joined them.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked and he pointed up towards it.

"It's not leaving but it's not making a move which to me means it's waiting for us to get into a good position for it to attack." Jaune explained.

"Why wouldn't it attack us, we don't have anything to bring it down at range?" Pyrrha asked.

"It might be because we're in a solid group; it probably doesn't want to take the chance with all of us hitting it at once."

"Okay but like Pyrrha said most of us don't have a powerful long range weapon and you don't even have any that can hit at range." Weiss pointed out again and Jaune rolled his eyes.

"That's not the point, it thinks that we are a threat hence why it's not attacking us this very moment and that's what matters." Jaune said.

"I think he's right, it's better to be safe than sorry." The magenta eyed teen spoke up from behind Jaune.

"Yea, I guess I'm gonna have to agree with Jaune on this as well." Yang said then looked at Ruby.

"I don't think any of us wants to make a mistake here. There are no second chances when it comes to things like this." She said as she put an arm around the younger girl then looked up at Jaune.

"So what's the plan?" She asked and Jaune realized that everyone was now staring at him. Clearing his throat he looked around then nodded mostly to himself.

"Alright, we're going to split up, two teams, we each go to one side of the forest and swing wide before heading towards the cliffs."

"What's that supposed to do? The Nevermore would be too difficult to take down then." Weiss pointed about.

"The point isn't to fight it in the forest; the point is to lure it down to a point where we can hit it at all. If it sees we split off then it'll come after one of us. When it starts to attack we'll start making our way back to the cliff ruins. If the team with the Nevermore gets there first their job will be to hold it down until the second team comes from behind and strikes. If the other team makes it first then they'll set up position to ambush it, hopefully injuring or killing it outright." Jaune said and the black hair girl spoke up.

"So how will we know when to turn back? None of us can communicate at a distance." Jaune scratched his chin as he thought about it.

"Then how about this, both teams will head away from the cliffs for ten minutes then start swinging back around towards the cliffs." Pyrrha interjected and everyone seemed to nod at the idea.

"What are the teams?" Ruby asked and Yang looked at her.

"Well, I'm coming with you Ruby, especially after what happened earlier." Yang said and Jaune could see the young girl lower her head a little. Though he didn't know what she was referring to nor did he want to step in as it wasn't his business.

"You cool with this?" Yang asked as she turned to her partner who shrugged.

"Sure." Jaune turned to the other two teens.

"Well I guess you're with me and Pyrrha, name's Jaune Arc." He said as he extended a hand, the magenta eyed teen took it.

"Lie Ren and this is my partner." He said in a cool monotone voice as he gestured with his other hand to the shorter, bubbly, orange hair girl.

"Nora Valkyrie! Ready for duty!" She shouted as she gave a mock salute. Jaune grinned as he looked at the assembled group.

"Alright, let's finish this."

* * *

 **15 Minutes Later…**

Jaune dove over a rock behind Pyrrha as another flurry of feathers came after them. Jaune could feel the violent vibrations of the rock as the steel like feathers embedding themselves in and around the rock.

"You good!" Jaune shouted.

"We're good!" Lie Ren shouted from nearby.

"Jaune we have to keep moving, Ruby's team should already be heading towards the cliffs now." Pyrrha said before they were drowned out as the Nevermore flew over the treetops screeching, broken branches rained down the on the duo.

"Alright! Let's move then. Nora! Ren! Let's go!" Jaune shouted and Nora cackled as she hopped out into the open, her weapon held in her hands. Jaune watched as she fired three times, in the distance he could see three bright pink clouds explode.

None of the shots however connected with the Nevermore but it did force the Grimm to stop in air as it waited for the smoke to clear.

By that point the four of them were already high tailing it through the forest. Jaune, who was bringing up the rear, looked over his shoulder to see the Nevermore looking for them as it circled the air above where they had taken cover.

"Jaune! Keep up!" Pyrrha shouted and he realized that the others were starting to gain distance from him. The Nevermore continued to screech then Jaune could see a shadow pass over head and it flew ahead of them. It was trying to cut them off as it turned around and flapped a few times in air.

"Dodge!" Pyrrha shouted and everyone but Jaune dove to the side. It took a few moments for him to realize what she meant and dove onto the ground just as another flurry of large feathers struck around him.

Glancing to the side he could see the trunk of a tree explode in a shower of wood chips that rained down on him as a feather struck it. A pair of soft yet powerful hands grabbed Jaune's left arm and he gasped in pain as he was dragged up.

Jaune had made the unfortunate mistake of trying to block a feather earlier with his shield until Pyrrha called out to him to not do that. He was too slow in moving out of the way and ended up getting glanced by the feather.

His shield protected him but even the glancing blow was enough to send pain through his wrist and shoulder.

"Jaune are you okay?' Pyrrha asked taking her hands off him as she saw his face twist up in pain.

"I'm fine; it's nothing to worry about." Jaune said as he stepped away and continued to jog towards the cliff leaving Pyrrha behind. She exchanged looks with Ren and Nora as they all knew however that he wasn't fine at all.

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

Jaune broke through another bush only to come into a clearing, large stone columns covered each side that led up to the stone ruin that rose up from a massive ravine.

Gunfire, bright lines of energy, along with explosions however soared up into the sky around it as Ruby and the others fought the Nevermore. The massive bird Grimm had lost interest in Jaune's group so it had zeroed in on another, much clearer target.

"What should we do?" Ren asked as he ran up besides Jaune.

"Let's get across the bridge, you, Nora and Pyrrha have weapons that can assist them." He nodded and was about to move forward when he looked back at him.

"I think you should sit this out." Jaune blinked.

"What?"

"You're obviously out of Aura and are hurt. Nora and I noticed it a while back when we were heading here. Stay here and keep out of trouble." Ren said but Jaune shook his head.

"I'm fine there's nothing to worry about, trust me." He said and Ren narrowed his eyes a little but was interrupted before he could say anything.

"What are you two lounging around for? The fight's that way!" Nora yelled as she ran past them, Ren gave Jaune once last look before taking off after her. Jaune was about to go when he realized that Pyrrha was just standing there looking at him.

"What?" He asked as Pyrrha stepped forward and grabbed his left arm. He winced a little in pain as she raised his arm up then rolled the sleeve back. Revealing his sweat covered arm, however Jaune felt himself grow cold as he saw the long gash on his arm, thin trails of blood seeped from it.

"When were you going to tell me?" She demanded before letting his arm go though he could see that her face wasn't matching the outrage in her voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said trying to cover up the panic in his voice but Pyrrha stepped in front of him. Looking into her eyes, he swore that they were glowing with rage as she stared him down.

"Don't lie to me Jaune, when were you going to tell me that you didn't have Aura? When you collapse from exhaustion or was I supposed to find out after you got yourself killed." Jaune sighed wearily as he pushed down his sleeve, he didn't have the energy to go through with lying.

"No one is supposed to know, alright? Now can we get back to the fight at hand?" He asked but Pyrrha shook her head and gripped Jaune's shoulders.

"Not yet, there's something I need to do." Jaune furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Jaune we're going to be partners for the next four years so plus just trust me." She said frustration obviously leaking into her voice again and Jaune sighed.

"Fine, I trust you." She nodded.

"Close your eyes please." He tilted his head a little but did so none the less. He immediately felt a hand on his cheek and Pyrrha began to speak but the words were lost on him as suddenly he felt an intense sense of vertigo.

Then images and sounds began to play out in his mind. None of which made any sense to him, a city in ruins, the sound of a bow being drawn and a voice much like his own that screamed in despair. A deep guttural laugh and the feeling of dread grew in him before giving out as a white light flooded his vision.

Jaune opened his eyes to see Pyrrha leaning against a stone column, visibly exhausted as she took in several deep breathes.

"Pyrrha?" He asked but she waved him away.

"I used my own Aura to unlock yours, how do you feel?" She asked and Jaune immediately realized that he indeed felt a lot different. His body no longer ached, the pain in his back, leg, and arm was all gone. Now he felt as if he could sprint forever whereas each step before had been an excruciating effort.

However that didn't last long as his new sense of energy soon gave way to exhaustion. Looking down at his hands, he could see a white glow that came from his body however it began to flicker before even that stopped.

"What you see is your Aura and it's already working intensely to fix the damage done to your body. Though I suspect that if it hasn't already exhausted itself in healing you then either your injuries weren't as bad as they appeared or you have a lot of Aura to work with. Which if I had to be honest it seems like the latter." Pyrrha remarked as she stood up straight again, in the distance the thump and booms of Nora's weapon could be heard now along with the rattle of Rens weapons.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she stepped out from behind the column, Miló and Akoúo in her hands.

"Exhausted, I thought Aura was supposed to fix me up." He asked as he slowly followed her.

"It is but it's not instant nor is it perfect, you still need to rest and you probably should still go see a doctor after this." Pyrrha said as she looked at him and he shrugged.

"One step at a time I guess. Now let's go kill that son of a bitch." Jaune said as he pulled Crocea Mors sword out while leaving the shield in its sheath form on his belt. There was no point in have it since he couldn't block any of the strikes, so he preferred just to have the sword out even though it was just as useless in this fight.

As Jaune and Pyrrha finally made it onto the stone bridge where the others were firing their weapons from, the Nevermore screeched loudly in pain as it fell briefly into the ravine.

Nora, Ren, Yang and the raven hair girl that Jaune learned earlier was called Blake however were still firing their weapons at the Nevermore as Weiss and Ruby moved further to the right.

The Nevermore cried out in rage as it recovered and rose again from the ravine. It flapped its wings a few times before speeding up towards them.

"Move!" Ruby shouted from nearby as the Nevermore got close and Jaune realized what she saw. The Grimm wasn't aiming exactly for them but underneath them.

Jaune dashed to his right just as the Nevermore struck the bridge, floor beneath him start to shift and he leapt forward. Rolling to his feet he turned around and saw that there was now a fifty foot gap between the two sides.

Nora fired two more times; the loud thumps were followed quickly by explosions and the scream of the Nevermore.

Jaune looked up to see that Pyrrha, Ren and Blake were missing from their group. Looking across the gap he could see the three of them firing their weapons as well.

They needed to get a better angle on the Nevermore; he looked around and saw a small doorway in the main structure with a splintered wood frame.

"Hey Nora!" He shouted and the orange hair girl looked at him.

"Let's find some higher ground, come on!" He pointed towards the doorway and she nodded. He took off with her following him through the doorway but he was surprised when his foot didn't step on anything. He didn't even have time to scream when he fell down on a stone floor.

"Watch out!" Nora shouted and Jaune felt something heavy land on top of him.

"Ow." He moaned.

"I said watch out." Nora replied as she hopped off him.

"Well this is great, now where are we?" Nora said as she looked around.

"There's only one thing left to do and that's finding a way out of here." Jaune said as he got to his feet and looked around. It was sort of dark but outside light was coming in through the doorway and cracks in the walls. Most importantly however was the fact that he could see that the stairway was broken.

"Why do you think the stairs are broken?" He asked but Nora just snorted.

"It's old?"

"I mean obviously but why is this place even here? Nothing is even close to here except for Beacon." Jaune replied.

"I guess you're right in that sense, I thought it was odd that the Headmaster launched us into the forest for a temple. I wish Ren was here, he's much smarter than me he'd figure this out."

"Well we should look around and see if we can find a way out." Jaune said instead as he looked around and the two teens searched the room. Jaune was surprised that they found old, rusty cutlery, cups and wood furnishings.

They could still hear the crackle and soft booms of explosions coupled with the screeching of the Nevermore. However Jaune couldn't help but hear something else as well, it sounded a lot like the skittering of something that always appeared from behind him.

"Jaune?" Nora asked softly.

"Yea?"

"I don't think we're alone here." Nora said as she stepped closer to him, he pulled his sheath out from his belt and activated the shield.

"I'm starting to think that as well."

Unbeknownst to them, eight red eyes followed them. Followed by sixteen then twenty four more eyes, each set closing in on them slowly.

Jaune wasn't sure how long they had been in the structure when everything started to shake violently. He feared that the Nevermore had somehow weakened the structure and it was now going to collapse killing both of them.

Instead light filtered down from above and Jaune looked up to see the clear blue sky from a hole in the ceiling. The sound of fighting was much clearer now. However there was something else that truly frightened Jaune and Nora who took a sharp intake of breath next to him.

Three Creatures of Grimm were next to the opening in the ceiling. Each had eight legs with multiple bone spikes protruding from the black legs; another bone plate with red markings protected the cephalothorax. Each of the Grimm creatures was about a meter in length and width.

Jaune tried to swallow but his throat was far too dry from fear.

"Jaune." Nora whispered.

"Yea?"

"What should we do?" She asked and there was only one thing that Jaune could think of.

One of the creatures started to lower itself down towards them; Jaune could see a stark white line of webbing being produced that allowed it to descend. He made a mental note not to get caught in that as it would probably be impossible to get out of.

"Run! He shouted and the two teens backed away. Nora braced with her weapon and fired. The sound of the grenade launcher in close confines might have permanently damaged Jaune's hearing but now with his Aura, it simply rang loudly.

The shell exploded in a cloud of pink smoke and a black shape fell to the ground. Jaune stared at the twitching mass of the Spider Grimm; three of its legs were missing as it squirmed in pain.

"Watch out!" Nora screamed and Jaune looked up to see another spider jumping from the ceiling towards him. He crouched low at the last second came at him and swung Crocea Mors horizontally. The tip of the blade hit something and there was an abnormally high screech as something hit the ground behind him.

Jaune spun around just in time for it to jump on him again. As Jaune fell back he could see the only thing that was keeping the chelicera away from his body was Crocea Mors. The sword as wedged between the two fangs as they tried to close.

The Grimm was surprisingly heavy and its flailing legs were making it difficult for Jaune to bring his shield around to get it off him.

"I got it!" Nora yelled and suddenly the Grimm was off him. Looking to his left he could see it sprawled out against the wall of the tower, twitching slightly. Nora stood over him wielding a large hammer as she looked at the ceiling. Jaune looked up to see the third one backing away.

"Should we kill it?" She asked but Jaune shook his head as he stood up.

"No, let's just find a way out of here." She nodded and the two of them headed in the opposite direction. As they ran that when they started to hear more movement everywhere they turned, the constant skittering grew louder and louder that it nearly drowned out the fighting above them.

After what seemed like forever there they made it to another room like that they had come though. Jaune pointed towards the intact staircase and followed Nora up the stairs with his weapons ready in case another Grimm appeared.

Jaune could feel the wind on his back as Nora pushed over a dilapidated wooden door. They stepped outside again but this time they were on the other side of the structure from where they had come in from.

Looking up Jaune was surprised to see the headless corpse of the Nevermore fall down into the mist obscured ravine. Looking again he could see the red form of Ruby on top of the cliff, for some reason it looked like rose petals were flying through the air.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha's voice called out from nearby, he turned to see her and Ren running towards them. Nora was about to run ahead when suddenly she fell forward with a slam, losing her grip on her weapon, then started to get pulled back.

"Get it off me!" She yelled as she was pulled away, Jaune turned around to see the same webbing wrapped around her leg. He could see the Grimm from before standing at the doorway pulling her towards it.

Jaune slashed down with Crocea Mors and expected to have a clean cut. Much to his horror Crocea Mors didn't cut the web completely, instead it got stuck halfway through soon he was being dragged along trying to slow the pull.

"Watch out!" Pyrrha shouted and Jaune lowered his head as her shield flew in then struck the Grimm. However it wasn't enough to dislodge the Grimm and Jaune pulled harder on his sword finally getting it free when Weiss came in from above.

Ice formed as she made contact with the ground, Jaune and Nora finally were stopped as the ice held the web in place. Blake quickly came in and Jaune could hear the sound of her fighting coupled with what he assumed was the death screech of the creature.

"Are you two alright?" Yang asked as she got closer to them, Jaune held up a thumb as he panted on the ground while Ren helped Nora up.

"What was thing?" Nora asked.

"If I had to guess it looked like a Death Weaver." Weiss said as she cupped her chin.

"A what?" Ruby asked looking confused.

"A Spider Grimm." Pyrrha explained and Yang shuddered.

"Ew."

"I think we've got more pressing concerns." Weiss said and the others looked at her.

"Death Weavers don't come in just small groups, the fact we encountered one means that there should be more nearby." She said and Nora nodded.

"I think we should just leave now, we've did what we needed to do and that's make it to the cliffs with the relics." Jaune said as Pyrrha pulled him to his feet then they moved towards the cliffs, Yang sighed.

"You gotta admit though, if this is what the first day of being at Beacon is like then the next four years are going to be really eventful."

 **Later That Day…**

Jaune struggled to stay on his feet as Headmaster Ozpin called out four more names. He was assigning teams and apparently every two pairs that picked the same pieces were being assigned as a team together.

He was also surprised at how many teams there were before them. He didn't remember seeing a lot of people at the cliffs when Ozpin launched them all but he supposed that they probably got separated or launched at another time or something.

In fact the more that Jaune thought about it, the more it felt as if random people in his memory were just black silhouettes.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren." Ozpin called out and Jaune shook his head a little as he followed them.

Jaune ended up standing next to Pyrrha while they stood on the stage facing Ozpin. Jaune could see the crowd of attending and new students like him watching them.

He could see that more than a few of them were whispering to themselves and were looking at Pyrrha. Glancing at her, he could see that she stared stoically at Ozpin, betraying no emotion to the obvious fact that people were quite specifically staring at her.

"Form this day forward, you shall be known as team JNPR. Led by Jaune Arc." Jaune snapped his head around towards the Headmaster who gave him a small smile.

"Congratulations young man." Jaune wasn't sure what to say so he just said the first thing to come to mind.

"Oh."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Alexander was sitting in a small coffee shop near the pier sipping from a small porcelain cup of tea while he read the newspaper. Apparently news had finally leaked out about another Schnee train being robbed in the northern sections of Forever Fall Forest.

Police and a Schnee representative had both confirmed that it had all the hallmarks of a White Fang job. All of the human crew killed, with the cargo stolen, and the train's eventual derailment while being covered in White Fang symbols.

Though Alexander found it odd that they didn't specify what exactly was stolen. Normally someone would give detail in the amount of Dust stolen. As the missing Dust ended up driving prices which would just help the authorities deepen the animosity of the public towards the White Fang.

At the same time it did stir up trouble for those still trying to amend the ever weakening relations of the Human and Faunus communities.

His own Kingdom was having a relatively minor problem with it as there have been some rumors spreading of Faunus seeking to acquire reparations for the crimes committed against their people in the Four Kingdoms.

Alexander had no patience to deal with such trivial greed; Arcadia has nothing to do with that mistreatment. Nor had it turned a blind eye to those that committed such acts in their borders.

He could still remember the day that The Son had given the edict to punish those that discriminated against Faunus by stripping them of their land and money. Or alternatively be forced to serve in the Army for a set amount of time for such violation.

With Arcadia's isolation, the White Fang had yet to establish a foothold in his Kingdom. This brought the benefit of preventing trouble starting in Arcadia like that which plagued the Four Kingdoms; however it left him open to criticism of being apathetic to the tribulations of their people as well.

All of which he didn't care for, the Four Kingdoms had made their choice to distance themselves from Arcadia a long time ago and he respected that decision. As such he was able to put his attention on making his people happy rather than the governments of other Kingdoms.

Though of course raising a family had been a slight issue as well but one that he was okay with. If he had to put a meaning of what it was like to have a family, he would have to pick the term vacation.

Out of the twelve months in a year he would spend nearly half of it in Arcadia. Spending weeks or months there at a time and other times just taking four or five days to attend to minor issues.

Now that changed as Arabella was taking the girls back to Arcadia to now live there for presumably the rest of their lives. The decision to do so did have some influence rooted in Jaune's decision to attended Beacon but in truth he had omitted the part of having decided that during his last trip to Arcadia.

Something was stirring up trouble on the borders; patrols have gone missing, renewed appearance of the denizens from the Ether and the unusual Grimm activity. The Creatures of Grimm that surround Arcadia have always been a little odd as the constant warfare with the Arcadia Military has in fact strengthened the survivors of those campaigns.

Many soldiers and civilians nowadays however have the tendency to call the various campaigns, Crusades. It probably had to do something with that new cult that was supposedly being formed amongst the populace.

Alexander however could say for sure that things were being set in motion that could drastically affect the future of his Kingdom.

"Sir." A voice interrupted Alexander's internal musing and he looked up to see Zus.

"Ah, have a seat lad." Alexander said gesturing to the other chair in front of him. The operative sat down without a complaint and in the corner of his eye. Alexander could see that more than one or two female patrons and staff members were eyeing their table now.

"What brings you my way today Zus?" Alexander asked as he poured a second cup then set it in front of the other man.

"Just business as normal." Zus replied as he picked up the cup and took a sip.

"Mhmm, this is pretty good, what is it?"

"Just White tea, I find it very soothing to say at least." Zus nodded as he finished his cup.

"I'll need to remember to buy some before I leave."

"They're pretty well priced so I encourage it." Alexander said as he put the cup down, he folded his hands and looked out towards the busy street.

"So what have you learned?" He asked without looking at the other man, Zus cleared his throat a little.

"Well it seems he passed, they had some difficulty with a Nevermore and some Death Weavers. However they cleared out without looking for the nest. Which we suspect is in the main structure of the junction in the ravine. I've consulted with Zander and he said that he could assemble a team to demolish the structure they were seen in if you wish." Alexander shook his head.

"No, we still can't reveal our presence here, so blowing something up is out of the question. I'll have Arthus form a kill squad and contact you about this. It served its purpose long ago now put it to rest." Zus nodded as he pulled out a small red note pad and wrote in it briefly.

"The next thing is Azalea's report, we don't know much about the local White Fang branch other than that they're being led by, let's say, a fella with an anger management problem. Which is all she has for now, she says that she'll be able to find something within a month all she needs is to find some contact that knows the White Fang." Alexander nodded then looked at him as he could see the man reading something rather pensively.

"I assume there's something else."

"Two things actual, I guess one's good news and the other not so much." Alexander narrowed his eyes a little.

"Well?"

"Do you want the good news or bad news first?" Alexander just glared at the other man who cleared his throat as he looked down.

"I'll go with bad news first then. Apparently as of 0600 yesterday, communication officers onboard the A.N.S. Jericho received an emergency beacon from operatives in the South Western regions of Sanus. The beacon came from a village there by the name of Nymirr."

"Nymirr you say?" Alexander frowned as he rubbed his chin.

"Sir, is there something important about Nymirr?" Zus asked but Alexander gave him a cold stare.

"It was before your time, for now forget about it. I will inquire into that myself." Zus nodded.

"So what's this other piece of news?" Alexander asked as he leaned forward.

"We know where Katherine Arc is."

* * *

 **Why hello there, come here often? No? Fair enough.**

 **Oh! I didn't see you there, uh, disregard that.**

 **A new chapter, a new day, ah how it feels to be bursting with ideas only to not find the fucking words to describe them! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

 **Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, I'm sure Jaune didn't since he was next to useless but his opinion doesn't matter.**

 **So! Leave a comment or review on what you think about the story. Or PM, find me on steam, or Teamspeak or Ventrilo, or whatever, if you have anything you want to discuss story related or not.**

 **Alas I must leave you my sweet darlings as my people(dog) requires my attention.**

 **Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jaune and his new team followed Professor Goodwitch to a small section of Beacon that he had a sinking suspicion that he would visit a lot.

She pointed up at a red cross that was painted above a set of white double doors; the sound of people moaning could be heard inside.

"As you can see this is the Infirmary in which you will be staying for the night Mr. Arc. We monitored your progress in the Emerald Forest and the Headmaster and I both agree that you've sustained far more injuries than you're letting on." The older woman said sternly to which Jaune could see his new teammates nodding along as well.

"I'm fine Professor Goodwitch, nothing a good night's rest won't fix." Jaune said but she turned on her heel quickly and Jaune winced in fear as she pointed the riding crop right in his face.

"You and I both know you need medical attention, now you'll either go in there or I'll make you." Jaune opened and closed his mouth then nodded.

"Good." The Deputy Headmistress said and the door behind her slid to the right. Inside Jaune could see a women dressed in nurse scrubs came towards them.

"How can I help you Deputy Headmistress?" Goodwitch turned to the shorter woman.

"Ah Rosia, I need you to find an examination room for Mr. Arc here. He suffered more than a few major hits during Initiation and I think it would be wise for him to undergo a medical examination before classes start next week and don't take no for an answer from him." Goodwitch instructed and the nurse nodded before gesturing for him to follow her.

"The rest of you can either stay here or if you'd like I'll take you to your new dorm room." Goodwitch said as she turned to the other three members of team JNPR.

"We'll go to the Dorm room." Ren was the first to speak with Nora nodding but Pyrrha looked at Jaune as he walked away with the nurse and sighed.

"I'll stay for a little bit if that's okay with you Professor." Goodwitch nodded and Pyrrha watched as her new teammates left her alone in the infirmary.

Looking around she was surprised that there were quite a few people already here. On a row of beds to her right she could see boys and girls lying on beds. Some of them had stark white bandages wrapped around arms or legs.

"Miss, do you need something?" Someone asked from behind her and Pyrrha turned to see a lanky looking girl with short black hair that covered her left eye in scrubs with a patch saying she was a student trainee.

"You're a student?" Pyrrha asked and the girl nodded.

"Despite what they say, you can learn more than just how to fight Grimm here. So are you looking for someone?" The girl asked again and Pyrrha could see over her shoulder that Jaune was walking through a door.

"I'm just here with my team leader since he's getting an examination."

"Ah, you're a freshman." The girl said with a knowing smile and Pyrrha frowned a little.

"What makes you say that?"

"Cause no one says that about a teammate unless they're all new, it's a new teammate, something happened or you just aren't actually friends and just see these four years as a working relationship." The girl explained.

"Wait, what do you mean by something happened?" The girl hummed a little.

"Well I guess I can you now. When you reach your second year the Academy can let your team go out on unsupervised missions, things can happen though and someone gets hurt or killed. The remaining teammates sometimes blame themselves so they distance themselves away from their other teammates or they blame each other and the team falls apart. This also means they're no longer allowed to perform missions until they get a new team member and sometimes they simply leave the Academy, resigning due to the guilt I suppose." Pyrrha frowned.

"Does that happen a lot?" The older girl gave a sad smile then gestured around.

"Not as much as you'd think but far more than we like, anyways, you should go find your team leader now." The girl finally said.

"Thank you?" Pyrrha said leaving room for a follow up question as the older student began to turn away but then stopped to look at Pyrrha.

"My name's Hilda Autumn, I'm a third year and it's not a problem. Helping people is what I do." The girl said with a soft smile and Pyrrha gave one of her own.

"Thank you, my name is Pyrrha Nikos." The girl nodded again before walking away and Pyrrha walked over to the door passing by several beds that had injured students on them. She supposed that some of the people here must have been injured in the initiation but it wouldn't account to why there were so many.

Stopping in front of the door, she raised her hand to knock but hesitated. What right did she have to come and check on him?

They had only met and neither of them knew each other very well. At the same time she had a responsibility to uphold both as his new partner and the one who led to him being injured. So she knocked three times on the door.

"Come in!" He called out and Pyrrha opened the door then quickly stepped in with the door clicking shut behind her. Standing in front of her was a bare chested Jaune Arc.

Turning to see the red hair girl standing there, Jaune squawked as he covered his chest with his hands then turned away.

Pyrrha in her daze at seeing the lean but well ripped body of the boy was also surprised at his scar covered shoulder. It looked to be a wound that happened far before they met she reckoned but still fresh enough that it was very noticeable.

"Pyrrha, what are you doing?!" Jaune squeaked.

"I, uh, was coming in, uh, to check on you." She said as the door behind her began to open. She stepped out of the way as a grizzled looking man in a white lab coat along with noticeable bags under his eyes walked in.

"Alright, let's get this over with." The man grumbled as he walked over to a small tray where a clip board was laying. Picking it up he looked it over and didn't say anything as the two teens stood there silently.

"Uh, Doctor?" Jaune started to ask and the man glared at him.

"What." He asked bluntly.

"Uh, I don't think this examination is necessary. Professor Goodwitch just thought I might need an exam after our fight during initiation." Jaune began to explain but the older man snorted.

"Right, you suddenly have a Doctor of Medicine now? You're capable of accurately giving yourself a self-examination right, fuck, can you give me mine then too." The man asked sardonically and Jaune kept silent.

"Good, I've spent far too long dealing with hotheaded kids that think they know better than me. They think just because they have Aura it'll mean that nothing can happen to them. The foolishness of youth I suppose, you'd think they'd realize that wasn't the case if we're in constant need of having to train more and more Huntsmen and Huntresses. Aura like any other tool can break." The man said before looking up at him.

"So your name is Jaune Arc huh?" He ask and Pyrrha swore that Jaune started to pale a little but the man chuckled.

"No need to piss yourself boy, it was just an observation." The man said as he stuck out a hand, Jaune took it and gave a firm shake.

"Doctor Aveus Dillinger." He said and Jaune nodded.

"Pleasure to meet you sir." Jaune said and Dillinger snorted.

"Alright boy, I'm going to do a brief preliminary examination just to see how bad these supposed injuries are. Though I see you've already gotten some battle scars, did you get that from a Beowolf during Initiation?" He asked nodding towards his shoulder as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

"No sir, it…was before I got here." Jaune said as he stared at the floor.

"Hmm, I see. Well young Miss, may I inquire why you're in my examination room?" Dillinger turned to look at Pyrrha.

"Oh! I, uh, just wanted to stick with Jaune. He's my team leader and partner. Plus I'm sort of responsible for him being here." Pyrrha said as the man started to check Jaune over by hand.

"Hmm." He pressed Jaune's ribcage and Jaune couldn't help but twitch a little at a brief flash of pain.

"Did you take a hit to the chest? No, it was the back wasn't it?" Dillinger asked and Jaune nodded. He twitched a few more times as the doctor probed his back more before pulling a stethoscope from his coat pocket. Then pressed it against Jaune's bare back, while he took slow deep breathes.

"It appears that there is extensive discoloration on your back between where the first thoracic and lumbar are, though that's a clear sign of the bruises healing. If I had to guess you also had a few fractured ribs and possible damage to the spine when your Aura was out, do you wear armor?" The doctor asked and Jaune nodded. Pyrrha moved a littler to her right and felt her heart drop to see the fading but large bruises on his back.

"Show me." Dillinger ordered and stepped back to allow Jaune to pick up the chest and back plate of his armor then held them out for them to see. Pyrrha felt her mouth open in shock to see the horizontal dent running across the back plate.

"That would explain it, though it must a good piece of armor if you took a hit that bad and didn't get crippled immediately by it. But in the end you did take a beating and your Aura must be already taxed to the limit in healing your body, though it doesn't seem to really be affecting these scars, so those will probably fade will fade a little over time." Dillinger wrote something on the clipboard.

"So I'm going to have you checked in for the night for observation, we'll also run some scans to see if there's anything lingering internally that your Aura has yet or is incapable of healing at the moment. I'll have a nurse come in to take your belongings and show you to a room." Dillinger said then nodded to both of them before heading out, neither teen said anything.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Jaune said cautiously as he looked towards the red head.

"Right." Pyrrha said as she looked at the tiled floor.

"So what happened to the others?" Jaune asked.

"What?"

"To Ren and Nora I mean. Did they not want to stay here?" Pyrrha shrugged.

"They were rather tired so they decided to go with Professor Goodwitch to our dorms." Jaune nodded.

"I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't think they're all that happy with me being their team leader." Pyrrha frowned.

"What makes you think that?"

"I have a feeling that Ren probably thinks I'm reckless as he knew that I didn't have my Aura but I think he just assumed it depleted not that I didn't have it unlocked at all at that point. As for Nora, I think the whole spider Grimm thing is bothering her since I was the one to lead her down there." Jaune looked at her but she didn't meet his eyes.

"Do you agree with them?" He asked.

"I…I agree with my partner."

"That doesn't really seem like a yes to me, tell me. Do you think I made a bad call?" He pressed.

"I don't know."

"You don't know or you won't say."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything other than the truth."

"Fine, I don't know what to think. I wasn't there; I didn't hear your reasoning to lead her there. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you had some sort of plan to assist in the fight against the Nevermore though."

"Fair enough Pyrrha, thank you for speaking your mind." Jaune said.

"Well if we're speaking our minds then why did you go inside of the tower?" Pyrrha asked.

"I knew Nora wouldn't be able to get a full range of shots if she had stayed on the bridge. I was hoping that when we entered the building we'd find a staircase leading us up. We didn't nor did we find a staircase that led us all the way to the top, we either had missed it completely when we were running from the Grimm or there just wasn't an access way to the top." Pyrrha nodded as a nurse came in, holding a folded paper gown in one hand.

"Mr. Arc? I'm going to need you to strip down completely and put this on." Jaune nodded as he unfurled the paper gown then looked over at Pyrrha.

"You can go Pyrrha I'll be stuck here for the rest of the day, so you can head to our dorm room and rest." Jaune said and Pyrrha nodded.

"I'll see you later Jaune." She said before exiting the room, the beeps, moans, and soft chatter of nurses could be heard much clearer now. As she walked away she thought about what Jaune said, he wasn't technically wrong in his decision process.

He had Nora's weapon and her fighting capability in mind when he had made his choice it just didn't go as he intended. She should probably discuss this over with her and Ren as it wouldn't do any of them good if they were already at each other's throats.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Alexander was sitting in the troop bay of the Arcadian aircraft as it flew north of Vale. Looking out a small window he could see them passing over Forever Fall Forest.

Memories bubbled back up; he could smell the stench of blood, fear, and men soiling themselves upon death. The crunch of metal breaking and war cries as the armies of Grimm clashed with the Army of the Grand Campaign.

It was also here that marked the beginning of the end for Arcadia on the continent of Sanus.

Shaking his head slightly he turned to see Zus sitting across from him looking at a data slate. The man if anything was at least dedicated to his job. It wasn't abnormal to find more than a few field agents that have taken, one or two liberties, when they weren't being watched.

"So how did you find my daughter?" Alexander asked his voice cutting through the noise of the dual propellers easily even without a headset.

"Oh, we were able to get our hands on some copies of official Valean documents for the purchase of a home about four hours north of Vale. We then narrowed it even farther by medical records that were transferred via the CCT network." Zus leaned over and held out his data slate. Taking the relatively small device in his hands Alexander could see a map with a mark where his daughter was.

A village named Envall with a population not even a thousand strong, Alexander narrowed his eyes. Something was off about her location, while he didn't doubt that Zus or his information was faulty. It was almost like his parental instincts suggest that this trip might cause more harm than good.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Walking up a small hill, Alexander found himself staring down at a lake surround by various buildings. A small brick wall barely twice his height surrounded the outskirts of the village.

He could see small fishing boats sitting on the lake surface, while other people enjoyed their day in the water. Others were closer to shore, children, all of them seemed to have not a care in the world.

Even from the distance he was from it he could hear the joyful sounds of laughter along with the smell of grass and the sounds of nature. Yet the longer he stood there the more and more his senses changed what they were experiencing.

The sound of laughter slowly began to turn to the cries of horror and pain. While the smell of grass turned to the pungent smell of blood and fire. Nature's natural sound turned to into the staccato ripple of small arms fire with the low rumble of distant artillery.

"Sir?" Zus asked as he stood next to him.

"What is it?" Alexander asked as he did a quick scan of the area, not was out of the ordinary.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, now let's go." He said before walking down the hill without waiting for a response. The sounds of armor clinking could be heard behind him as he reached the main entrance to the village, he stopped and turned around.

Excluding Zus there was four others with him, all of whom were Praetorians. They stood out in their black plate armor menacingly with their pollaxes in hand, each one stood passively like a statue but Alexander knew they were all fully aware of their surroundings.

Alexander also knew each of them by name and what class they graduated from. He also knew that people got very uneasy when four highly trained warriors with heavy armor and deadly weapons walked into their homes.

For many who lived through the Faunus Rights Revolution and the few that were still alive from the Great War. The sight of the Arcadian Praetorians meant blood would be shed in large amounts.

"Zus you're with me. Seranatos, Esdroch, Hamael, and Oshiah I want the four of you to spread out and cover the outer perimeter, watch for bandits, Grimm, or worse. Also try not to be seen by the locals." One of the Praetorians looked up at him, a gauntlet rising up to push up the metal face plate of the visored Barbuta. The scaled face of a reptile Faunus looked up at him in confusion.

"My Lord? We should be with you." Alexander shook his head.

"I understand Hamael but I would rather not scare the locals with the four of you standing behind me." The Praetorian nodded reluctantly and lowered his faceplate soon the four of them split off to patrol the outskirts of the village.

"Do you think that's wise?" Zus asked and Alexander nodded.

"Let's go." The two of them approached the gate, a wooden double door with two metal rings on it. Alexander took on and knocked three times each one sound like someone was taking a hammer to the door.

"Oi! Quit bloody hammering you prick! What are you trying to do? Break the flipping door?!" An old man started to yell and Alexander stepped back as one of the door was pulled back.

An old man with thinning white hair stepped out wearing overalls and boots. Alexander however was mostly concerned about him having a single barrel break action shotgun.

"Good evening sir." Alexander said courteously and the old man sized him up.

"Bugger me; you're a big fella ain't ya?" Alexander smiled.

"It appears so sir." The old man waved one hand in front of his face as if chasing away a bad smell.

"Don't call me sir, I ain't that old. Now what do ya want here mister?" The old man asked posing the last part as a question.

"Alexander, my name is Alexander Arc. If you don't mind me asking but do you know if a Katherine Arc lives here?" The old man scratched his cheek.

"Mmm, yup I know of a Katherine Arc but who are you to her?" Alexander smiled.

"I'm her father." The old man nodded then looked at Zus.

"My oh my, ain't you a pretty fella, I bet you're even prettier than my daughters." The man said before clearing his throat and spitting out some phlegm.

"Uh, thank you sir." Zus said unsure of what to say.

"Well I guess you two can come in, night's approaching and ya'll don't wanna camp out the night. We got spirits that live in these woods." Alexander frowned.

"Spirits?" He asked and Zus looked up at him while the old man spat again.

"Now I know you city folk probably think I'm crazy but it's true." Alexander shook his head.

"No, I don't think you're crazy, I for one know that Spirits are a real thing." The old man glanced up at him.

"Really now?"

"Indeed." The old man snorted then stepped aside letting them walk through.

"Oi, Eskell! Come here girl!" The old man shouted and a petite raven hair girl wearing grey trousers and a brown jacket ran over.

"You need some help Granddad?" She asked and looked up at Alexander with wide eyes.

"Whoa."

"Yes, yes now put your tongue back in your gob girl. Take these two to see the Arc girl." The girl frowned now.

"The crazy girl? What would I?" The girl never finished her sentence as the old man slapped the top of her head.

"Quiet girl and do as you're told! This here is her father." The girl open and closed her mouth repeatedly then turned away.

"Uh! Follow me!" She said unnaturally loud as she started to walk away. As he followed her Alexander could see that while it was small, the village was at least clean and well-constructed. Everyone also seemed to know each other to some degree as many of them crowded quickly into groups upon seeing Zus and him.

"I don't think they like us." Zus noted.

"I'm pretty sure they don't like you." Alexander said casually.

"My lord, you wound me with such words. Here I was thinking they were frightful of the giant strolling amidst them."

"Come now Zus, we both know I'm far prettier than any giant."

"My apologies my Lord, calling you a giant is an insult, a troll is much more fitting."

"Maybe and I'd say your weasel face may frighten some of the young ones but then again everyone knows you prefer them in the more developmental stage of life."

"Ouch my Lord, I didn't really you personally did executions." Alexander didn't say anything at that and neither did Zus. Eskell who had been leading them thankfully didn't her their exchange as she led them to a small wooden cottage at the far edge of the lake. Alexander could see a thin trail of smoke rising from the chimney.

"Well here we are if you need anything else feel free to ask around I'm sure any of the neighbors would love to help." She said and Alexander couldn't help but notice the strain in her face as she smiled at them.

"Thank you but that'll be all, we know the way out." Alexander said and the girl nodded quickly before hurrying away. She didn't look back at them as she left.

"So, uh, should I stay out here?" Zus asked and Alexander stared at him.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said as he turned away. Looking back at the cottage Alexander walked slowly up to it for some reason he could feel a sense of anticipation dancing through his fingers as he approached the door.

Before he could even knock on the door it swung open and he was greeted by a stocky red hair cat Faunus woman.

"What the fuck do you want?" She asked and Alexander could see the thick mass bandages around her right arm.

"Good evening ma'am I'm here to see someone." The cat Faunus narrowed her yellow eyes and crossed her arms.

"So what? If you want to get your rocks off, might I suggest the nearest brothel but mind you it's a two hour journey eastward before you reach an establishment like that." The girl growled.

"Eiko! Would you just let him in already?" A familiar voice called out and the Faunus crossed her arms as she stepped aside.

"I'm watching you old man." She growled.

"Take a picture then." Alexander said casually as he ducked his head stepping inside. Thankfully once through the doorway it wasn't so bad, he had plenty of room to stand.

The inside of the cottage was homely to say at least. There was wood furniture, two couches in front of a stone fireplace with a shelf over it that had several pictures sitting on top of it. A small table sat in the corner next to what Alexander assumed was the kitchen area.

There was one thing that caught his interest however; it was the young blonde women that sat in front of him. At the same time a pang of pain and sorrow filled his heart at seeing her.

Katherine Arc sat in a wheel chair looking up at him; she had a scar that crossed over her right eye to her temple and nose. Rendering it along with her sight useless while her right leg ended just above the knee. Lastly white bandages covered every inch of her exposed skin, Katherine looked up at him.

"Yo."

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

Jaune slowly opened the door handle to his new room; he had left the infirmary as soon as he could. It was still early in the morning for most people, especially on a day off after yesterday's events but for Jaune he felt an itch crawling across his body to start training for the day as he had with Areto.

Of course he couldn't do that both to the Doctor Dillinger's orders and his body also protesting anything more than a simple stretch.

So he figured he'd go and see his new team in their dorm room. A part of him was nervous about it especially to the idea that half of his team didn't like him for his actions despite good intentions.

Opening the door he poked his head through, Ren and Nora were still asleep it seemed. Nora was halfway off her bed snoring while Ren looked like as still as a corpse that had been rolled tightly with the bed's thick cover.

What was strange was Jaune didn't see Pyrrha in any of the other beds in the room. He'd had expected her to be asleep as well if not just lying in bed.

Stepping into the room, he slowly closed the door as he didn't want to wake up the others. A door to the side opened and Jaune was surprised to see Pyrrha strolling out in a red tank top and black shorts.

Jaune immediately looked away and pretended to study a wall even though there was nothing on it.

"Oh, Jaune, I didn't realize you were here. Are you supposed to be up and about already?" Pyrrha asked from behind him, her voice low as she didn't want to wake the others.

"Yea, Doctor Dillinger said that there was really only going to be some soreness in my ribs and back for a while the Aura heals my body so there was nothing for them to do with me. Why are you up so early? I figured you'd want to get some rest after yesterday." Jaune asked as he looked towards her again but she shook her head.

"True, yesterday was pretty hectic but I kind of wanted to do some like cardio to let off some tension."

"Fair enough, I know what you mean as well. I was walking through the halls and I would have expected some of the higher years to be up and about but it seems like anyone that doesn't have a job to do are nowhere to be seen." Jaune said as he sat down on a bed that had his stuff.

"I suppose they have a small break from classes for Initiation. You know, to give the Professors and other faculty time to focus most of their attention on that instead of their normal schedule." Pyrrha said as she began to stretch, Jaune made a point to just stare at his feet.

"Oh, do…you wanna join me?" Pyrrha asked and he looked up confused as she stood next to the door.

"What?"

"I was just wondering if you wanna go for a run with me but you don't have too if you aren't feeling up to it." Pyrrha said and Jaune smiled softly.

"I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that, I doubt I'll be able to keep up as I am right now. I wouldn't want to make you carry me back here when I collapse." Pyrrha laughed softly.

"Well I suppose we can at least get some breakfast afterward, if that's okay with you?" She asked and Jaune nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." She left and Jaune looked towards the sleeping forms of his teammates but neither of them had moved. He sighed as he stood up and took off his armor plates.

Laying them out on his bed he could see that they were pretty beaten up already. Aside from the dent in the back plate, his right spaulder and rerebrace were pretty scratched up as well. He couldn't help but think how his dad would kill him at knowing he already put a mark on his armor.

Sighing he opened his bag, which he assumed his father must have had it delivered sometime yesterday when he was in the infirmary. Inside of it was a note written from his father telling him to keep his head on straight and wishing him good luck.

Crumpling the note up he tossed it aside before digging out a fresh shirt and some loose shorts he wore when he felt lazy. Setting those aside he unpacked the rest of his stuff and looked around for a dresser. Walking over he pulled out the top drawer to see it occupied with what he assumed was Ren's clothes.

Opening the bottom drawer instead he found that it was empty so he put his clothes in it. Afterwards he picked up his clothes from the bed and headed into the room Pyrrha had come out of.

It turned out to be a really nice bathroom complete with four marble sinks, a glass shower, and another door to the toilet.

Locking the bathroom door he hopped into the shower and let the warm water wash over his body. He swore that if he could he would have just sat down on the shower floor and taken a nap right then and there.

Alas he knew that was wasteful of water and that at some point the others would want to come into the bathroom. After scrubbing himself down with the school's provided bar soap he dried himself off and headed out into the main room.

Looking up at the clock he could see it wasn't even eight in the morning yet it felt as if half the day was already gone.

"Maybe I should have gone with Pyrrha." He said to himself as he walked over to one of the desks in the room. On it was a small packet with the school's symbol printed on it, picking it up he opened it to see that it was an information packet about the regular school year. It included everything from school rules, electives, areas on campus for them visit, a list of faculty members and the hours from which the cafeteria was open.

Glancing up at the clock he realized that breakfast was now being served. So he set the packet back on the table and slipped his sneakers back on.

Heading once more out of the room he saw that there was another dorm across from theirs. There was also a little sign etched onto the door. Stepping closer to read it, he was surprised to see that it was Ruby's team.

"Need something?" A quiet voice asked and Jaune felt a wave of fear pass down his spine as he looked to see the black hair girl whose name he had forgotten.

"Uh…no?" He said after a moment.

"You don't sound very sure of that." She said and he just shrugged.

"Ah, well, it's just that I was surprised to see your team had the room across from ours."

"Okay."

"Yup."

"Alright."

"Mhmm." Jaune started to back away as she stared at him.

"I'm going to go now." Jaune said slowly then quickly turned away and walked down the hall. Once around the corner he started to flail his arms around in frustration at how awkward that was. However he stopped when his stomach started to growl a little and he realized that he hadn't eaten or drank anything since Initiation.

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

Jaune pushed through a set of double doors and inside revealed four very long rows of tables with the occasional break between every four tables.

There were a number of students sitting at the tables but they were few and far between. At the far end however was the kitchen. The smell of eggs, sausages, pancakes and coffee was more than enough to send another pang of growls from his stomach.

"Ah Mr. Arc I see you're already up and about." A calm voice said from next to him and Jaune looked to see Headmaster Ozpin standing with a steaming mug.

"Oh I didn't see you there Headmaster, and yes I couldn't really sleep and I kind of felt hungry so I came here." Ozpin didn't look at him but nodded before sipping his mug.

"Your sister was like that as well the day after Initiation." Jaune frowned.

"You know my sister?"

"I try my best to remember all the students and teams that come through my school. Your sister and her team are just one of the more noteworthy ones."

"Thank you sir, I'm sure she would be happy to hear that." This time Ozpin looked at him.

"Do you not keep in contact with her?" Jaune shrugged.

"Ah we haven't talked recently. Normally she'll send a message or two and even rarer she'll come home but she never stayed for long."

"Ah, the joy of youth I suppose. The world is brimming with the beautiful mysteries of life; I'm not surprised she'd take whatever chance she can to explore it."

"Maybe but the Creatures of Grimm are still a threat so I'd imagine that some of those beauties have thorns sticking out of them."

"True but pain is beautiful in its own sense. To experience and learn from pain is to grow and that's what we all must do to become the best we can be." Jaune looked at Ozpin again.

"Are you one of those that believe everything has a place, no matter how random it appeared to be?" Ozpin looked at him.

"You know what I'm talking out, destiny and what not." A small smile touched Ozpin's face.

"Do you not believe in destiny Mr. Arc?" Jaune shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but I suppose if following the line of what's been said. The belief that what happens no matter how destructive, painful or even seemingly meaningless is going to or should happen no matter what then I find myself rejecting that notion. As to me it sounds far too complacent."

"Interesting, anyways Mr. Arc I wouldn't want to keep you from your breakfast." Ozpin said before walking out of the cafeteria and left Jaune wondering what just happened.

* * *

 **An Hour Later…**

Jaune was still sitting at a cafeteria table when he saw Pyrrha walk through the front doors. Looking towards her, he could see her smile and wave at him politely.

He was also surprised to see her not in her outfit from Initiation, this time she wore blue jeans and a red shirt with sneakers. Though he had to admit it probably would have been sillier for her to walk around in the same outfit all the time.

"Hey Jaune." She said as she stood next to the table he was at.

"Hello Pyrrha, enjoy your run?" He asked.

"Yup, though I was surprised to find you not in the dorm when I came back but I can see that you found yourself something to enjoy yourself with." She gestured to his loaded plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, and a cup of coffee filled halfway with milk.

"What can I say? I can't help myself when I see bacon that isn't crisped all the way." Jaune said as he held up a half-eaten piece of bacon. Pyrrha laughed softly before heading over to the ever growing line for food.

Jaune couldn't help but notice as she walked away that more than a few people were watching her and him to some extent. He wondered how much that had to do with the awards under her belt or the fact that she looked good.

In the corner of his eye he was surprised to see Ren and Nora entering the cafeteria as well now. Ren met his eyes and the two of them exchanged nods but Jaune could practically feel the tension.

He needed to talk with them, not just them actually, Pyrrha as well. None of them knew each other and because of Jaune's mistakes during Initiation it was already putting tension between everyone.

It wasn't long before the four of them were sitting at a table together. Pyrrha was on his left while Ren and Nora sat across from them.

"So, uh, how was your sleep?" Jaune asked slowly as he looked at Ren and Nora.

"It was fine." Ren said plainly and Jaune could feel himself twitch a little at the response.

"The beds here are surprisingly comfortable and bouncy." Nora added in to which Pyrrha nodded as well.

"The food here tastes good as well." Pyrrha said as she ate from a bowl of oatmeal.

"I'd imagine that since they're training us to be Huntsmen and Huntresses that they wouldn't cheapen out on the expense." Jaune said as he nibbled on a sausage then set it down on the plate.

"I believe there are some things we should discuss." The others looked towards him.

"It's about Initiation; I just want to apologize for getting you into trouble at the tower Nora. It wasn't my intention to put you at risk all I wanted to do was to help find a better position for you to attack the Nevermore." Jaune explained as he looked at Nora who nodded.

"Good intentions don't necessarily make for a good leader and just because you can apologize doesn't mean we're going to instantly be confident in you." Ren said calmly as he set his own cup down.

"I don't think that's a very fair assessment." Pyrrha cut in before Jaune could reply.

"Fair or not I'm simply stating what I've seen you do and quite frankly I'm not sure if we can trust you to not get us killed." Ren said as he looked Jaune in the eye.

"I completely agree with you on that, I haven't done anything to truly warrant any tangible belief in my ability to lead this team but I also think you're being a little too irrational to expect me to make flawless decisions all the time let alone for others as I've never had to lead anyone before. That being said I'm going to do my best to learn to be a proper team leader but I may make mistakes along the way and if I do please do what you're doing now and call me out on it but first you've got to give me a chance." Jaune said simply as he took a sip from his own cup.

"Yea Ren, quit being so hard on him, so what if things didn't go as planned. You should know by now that sometimes life makes a decision that doesn't agree with us at all." Nora said a stern looking flashing in her eyes as Ren looked away from them.

"Fine, fine, you're right Nora." The shorter girl smiled as she flashed Jaune and Pyrrha a thumbs up.

"Actually there's one last thing, what happened to you before we met up during the Initiation. They sent you to the infirmary almost immediately after the teams were made." Ren asked looking back at him and Jaune coughed slightly into his fist.

"Well my landing strategy sort of put me in a bad position and I ended up take a few serious hits that needed to be looked at in case." Ren nodded understandingly.

"Ah, so your Aura broke your fall but it was used up. Do you have a small Aura amount?" Jaune shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure." Ren frowned.

"Didn't they tell you when you went to Combat School?" Jaune shook his head.

"I didn't go to Combat School; I had one-on-one training." Everyone looked at him in surprise at this. Pyrrha knew something had been off since she found out he didn't have Aura but she just assumed he snuck his way into Beacon somehow.

To learn however that he had training meant that there was much more than meets the eye with him, another thing she needed answers when it came to Jaune Arc.

"Oh, well then thank you for telling us this." Ren said with Nora nodding emphatically.

"See Ren, I told you he was a good guy." Nora said as she chomped down on a pancake.

"I never said he was anything other than a good guy, I was just curious to know if he's truly capable of being a leader." Ren looked at Jaune and nodded.

"Anyone that's willing to admit they're not perfect and invite criticism while they learn is someone that I can trust with a little more ease." Jaune smiled.

"Thanks Lie." He held up a hand.

"Please, call me Ren." Jaune nodded.

"Oh! Oh! And you can call me Queen Nora!" The bubbly orange hair girl called out.

"Yea, you can ignore that." Ren said.

"That sounds like treason." Nora glared at him but Ren simply returned to his breakfast.

"So, what do you guys think classes will be like Monday?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'd imagine that it'll mostly be orientation for our classes." Ren replied and Jaune pushed his tray aside before resting his head on his arms.

"Whatever it is, I think our time here will be an experience none of us will ever forget."

* * *

 **Later That Day…**

Jaune was by himself again as he wondered Beacon's numerous gardens. He did find it strange that the school had so much space dedicated to these spots but he supposed it was their way of encouraging a peaceful atmosphere.

He remembered reading some of the after action reports of long range patrols where the Army units were put off rotation for more than a year sometimes. The stress of combat against the Creatures of Grimm for a long time outside of the more fortified border provinces of Arcadia tended to put a massive strain on soldiers.

So in the end when he supposed having a variety of places to distress on campus seemed like a really good idea. Jaune headed away from the gardens then walked through an open doorway, as he stepped past its threshold he bumped into someone.

"Shit." A voice said and Jaune looked down to see a teen with a light green hair cut into a mohawk sitting on the ground.

"My bad." Jaune said as he held a hand out, the teen took it and Jaune pulled him up.

"Man, you're like a rock." The teen said rubbing his ass.

"I wouldn't go that far to say that." Jaune said and the teen held up his hands.

"Hey man you don't got to be so modest, my team leader is pretty built himself but even he doesn't feel like that outside of his armor." Jaune chuckled softly.

"Russel Thrush, I'm from team CRDL." The teen said as he held a hand out, Jaune took it.

"Nice to meet you Russel, Jaune Arc leader of team JNPR." Russel snapped his fingers.

"Ah yea, I remember you from after Initiation. Your team got put together after ours." Jaune nodded.

"Gotta say you got lucky as well, two girls and two guys plus one of those girls is the famous Pyrrha Nikos. Man she's hot." Russel said wistfully and Jaune couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance, his brotherly instincts kicking in briefly at the callow remark.

"Yup, she's also my partner." Jaune said as he crossed his arms and a flash of realization went across the other teen's face.

"My bad, I'm just saying it's better to have an even team than all dudes." Jaune held up a hand stopping him.

"Don't worry about it." Russel nodded as he exhaled.

"Yo! Russel! Over here!" A new voice called out and Jaune turned around to see three other teens walking towards them. The lead figure was the tallest out of all five of them, behind him was a teen with shoulder length dark blue hair and the third some plain looking kid.

"Who's this?" The lead figure asked they got closer.

"This is Jaune Arc; he's the team leader of the people that went up after us when Ozpin made the teams." Russel explained.

"Cardin Winchester, I'm the team leader of CRDL." The lead figured said as he held out his hand, Jaune gripped it. Almost immediately Jaune could feel that the guy was indeed strong as he squeezed Jaune's hand hard but Jaune didn't relent in his own force which amused the bigger teen as he smiled.

"I see you've got a grip as well, makes sense since you got to be the leader of a team despite having Pyrrha Nikos on it. I've seen a few of her fights and she's honestly a one person army all on her own."

"Yea I get that impression as well." Jaune said.

"Well man I don't wanna hold you up from anything so we'll head out, nice meeting you Jaune." Cardin said to which he nodded as well.

"You too, I'll see you guys around then." Jaune waved goodbye as the four of them walked back towards the gardens.

"What a bunch of nice guys." Jaune murmured to himself as he cheerfully headed towards his dorm room glad in meeting new people.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

"I'd walked over to give you a hug but I'm a little, indisposed." Katherine rasped from her wheelchair. Alexander had three immediate thoughts; the first was remorse for seeing his first born so injured.

The second was a darker thought of violence, the urge to take up his armor and greatsword then lay waste to the Four Kingdoms at their incompetence as fury seethed through every fiber of his being.

The third and most frightful was the thought of what Arabella might do when she learns of what happened to her first daughter.

"Actually, how did you find me?" Katherine asked as she pushed herself around in the wheelchair.

"It sort of just happened there were a few things that we needed to take care of as I moved the rest of the family back home and Zus happened to have caught wind of your paper trail in the CCT." Alexander said simply as she gestured for him to sit on the couch, the furniture creaking loudly under his weight.

"Really? You're moving?" Katherine asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"With your brother attending Beacon, I felt it would be wise to get out of reach from the Four Kingdoms." Katherine chuckled softly before devolving into a coughing fit.

"So Jaune's becoming a Huntsman? That must have pissed you off." Alexander snorted.

"No but I did test him after having Areto train him for a few months."

"Well it's nice to know that you've learned from our fight."

"Maybe but it seems while I avoided the mistakes that I made when you decided to leave I ended up doing something far more foolish." Katherine looked over at him but Alexander couldn't meet her gaze.

"Now I've come to find my eldest daughter and offer her a place back home with the rest of the family but alas faith has been cruel showing her the darkness in man's heart." At his statement both Katherine and the other occupant of the cottage stiffened.

"What makes you think a Grimm didn't do this to me?" Katherine asked in a low voice.

"Please, I know a sword cut when I see one. Besides that you've got far too many bandages around you to indicate combat with the Grimm. Along with that your voice has a clear sign of thermal damage from smoke, while fires can start from a Grimm attack the more likely answer would be a human or Faunus opponent. Plus your friend here is far more cautious than one should be, while the Creatures of Grimm are a malignant force, she wouldn't be on the lookout in a village that is, as far as I'm aware, perfectly happy. So that rules out the prospect that the Creatures of Grimm are what you're being wary of." His daughter and her apparent friend exchanged looks.

"I think he's figured it out." The other girl said.

"Actually, before we continue, who are you?" Alexander asked.

"Oh, yea I guess I haven't introduced myself." She said as she walked towards him and held out her non-bandaged hand which his own dwarfed hers as he took it. Alexander gave a firm shake of her hand and could see her face twitch a little.

"My name is Eiko Ono, of team AERO, nice to meet you Mr. Arc." She said as Alexander let go of her hand and shook it a little.

"So are you the O or the E in that team name?" Alexander asked he watched carefully as there was a brief flash of remorse that touched her face.

"I'm the O; we had another person named Eldon Umber who fit that part." Alexander nodded.

"So I assume he's dead." Katherine glared as Eiko turned away.

"Dad, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Alexander held up his hand.

"You're both grown up enough to answer the question; I apologize if it's a painful memory but affirm or deny it nonetheless."

"He's dead and so is Aryle Raye, the other member of our team not here." Eiko cut in before Katherine could speak.

"Thank you and you have my condolences for the loss of your team members." Alexander said and Eiko gave him a curt nod.

"I see you're still an ass." Katherine murmured.

"Its fine you think that way but when you get to be my age doing what I do then you'll understand why I became the man I am that sits before you." Alexander said but Katherine crossed her arms, which was obviously not a great decision as he could see her face twitch in pain.

"So why are you here again?" Katherine asked.

"Well at first I wanted to see how you are doing which I've done so now I'm going to ask if you would like to come home with us. It would do you good to see your sisters and mother again. I know they would be happy to see you in the end as well. Plus I can see to it to ask Forge Master Rosenstock to craft a leg for you. My offer obviously extends to your friend." The other girl tilted her head in confusion.

"What would someone like me do there?" She asked and Alexander waved his hand dismissively.

"We're not the Four Kingdoms we accept Faunus wholeheartedly." She nodded.

"No I understand that, Katherine told us about who she really is and where she's from at the start of our second year together. I remember we were all kind of annoyed that it took her that long to tell us but in retrospect I think she told us at the minimum scale of that sort of timing." Alexander leaned forward and glared at Katherine.

"What else did she tell you?" He asked as the two of them glared at each other but Katherine looked away within moments.

"Ugh, where do I start?" Eiko said and Alexander patted the spot next to him on the couch.

"Start from the beginning."

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Jaune was sitting in the top row of bleachers in Combat Class; Professor Goodwitch was going over the basic rules of her class. He had to admit the older woman was intimidating, he reckoned that even if this wasn't a combat class that no one would dare break a rule on their own volition.

It was a lot better than Grimm Studies. As much as he wanted to like Professor Port's class it seemed that for once it was the teacher that made learning boring and not just a boring subject.

"With that out of the way class is over for today but be mindful we'll be going forth with the planned schedule tomorrow." Goodwitch said as she gave a casual wave of her riding crop. A stack of papers on the other side of the room started shaking before they became highlighted in purple then quickly shot over to land in the laps or hands of the waiting students.

"The entire semester's plans for this class is on that sheet so don't lose it. Now if anyone has a question feel free to come ask me, the rest of you may now leave."

"Ah! I can't wait for tomorrow." Yang said from the row below him.

"I'll be back." Weiss said as she stood up.

"Where are you going Weiss? We can leave." Ruby asked but the white hair girl ignored her as she headed down the stairs towards the arena.

"Ren, can we get something to eat? I'm hungry." Nora asked.

"Nora you've been eating chicken nuggets the entire class, how are you still hungry?" Pyrrha asked but the shorter girl shrugged.

"Those were just appetizers." Pyrrha tilted her head a little in confusion.

"That doesn't make any sense." She started to say but Nora put a finger on her lips stopping the redhead.

"Shush my dear child." Had Jaune not been looking he would have definitely missed Pyrrha narrowing her eyes at the shorter girl.

"Come on Nora; let's go see if the cafeteria is serving anything new for lunch." Ren said from behind Jaune and the shorter girl hopped towards him.

"So you girls wanna come with us?" Jaune asked as he turned towards Ruby, Yang and Blake.

"Sure, anything beats standing here." Yang said and Blake simply nodded.

"Uh, I think I'll wait here for Weiss." Ruby said as she looked at the white hair girl as she talked to Professor Goodwitch.

"If you say so sis, we'll wait for you in the cafeteria." Yang said as she looked at her and the young girl nodded absentmindedly. When the six of them left the amphitheater, Jaune looked at Yang.

"Is something going on?" The blonde shrugged her hair waving injunction with the movement.

"Ah it's just some interpersonal issues." Jaune nodded as he looked towards Pyrrha and she shrugged.

"So what's everyone's day looking like?" Jaune asked, Beacons main focus was on shaping them to become Huntsmen and Huntresses but it also gave its students a select number of elective courses.

Since the Great War, individualism and art had always been the forefront of education with teachers even in elementary trying to shade the minds of children to seek art, beauty and attain what they thought of as their own identity.

Even Aura had a place in that teaching, as it was the physical manifestation of the soul.

If each soul was a representation of the wielder then thought process most had was that Aura or more specifically their semblances would be fitting to the person. Even if two people had a similar power then all it would take is to look for a detail, whether it was fundamental or minor, that would twist the power to match its owner.

So even in a school like Beacon where its primary goal was to create the Huntsmen and Huntresses of tomorrow, it still sought to teach subjects that would help give a more rounded education to the students that attend it.

So the students at Beacon had courses like mathematics, sciences like a normal school but it also had courses like sculpting, sainting, photography, music, culinary and drawing. Along with that there were technical courses like wood work, mechanical engineering, metallurgy which including forging, glass blowing and casting.

There were even more classes like medicine, history, wilderness training, and programming. Beacon had a course for almost every subject that could be reasonably thought of, though the core will always be combat orientated.

"I've got shop in a few hours then I'm free." Yang said from behind him.

"Oh Ren and I are taking a culinary class together." Nora called over her shoulder, Jaune looked at Pyrrha.

"What about you Pyrrha?" Pyrrha looked sheepishly at the ground.

"I'm taking a weight lifting course." Jaune nodded.

"Nice, I got stuck having to take Tactics and Logistics with Goodwitch later." She tilted her head a little at that.

"Tactics and Logistics? I don't remember seeing that on the list of available courses." Jaune waved his hand dismissively.

"That's because it's not an elective or universal course. It's only meant for team leaders, Goodwitch is supposed to instruct us on how to be effective leaders or how to communicate properly in stressful situations and what not." Pyrrha nodded a little.

"That sounds interesting."

"Wanna trade places then?"

"Nope." Jaune chuckled as the group headed over towards the cafeteria, opening the front doors he could see it was much more crowded than the first time he had ever been in it. Dozens of uniformed students sat around chatting and eating as they waited for the next batch of classes.

"So did you guys hear the news?" Yang asked as they got into line.

"What news?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well it turns out there was some attack in the far south, a whole town got wiped out by the Grimm over the weekend." Yang said as she started picking up some plastic wrapped sandwiches.

"Really? How big was the town?" Jaune asked.

"Ah they're not saying how many but here's the kicker. There are some rumors that the Arcadians are actually behind it." Yang explained as they neared the end of the line, Jaune wasn't sure what to make of hearing that. So instead he opted to just pick up a few pieces of roasted pork loin and mash potatoes.

"Wow, the Arcadians? No one's heard anything about them since the Faunus Rights Revolution." Pyrrha remarked.

"Much good they were during that." Blake said the first real words she had spoken since they left combat class but her words nonetheless had an apparent darker reason to them.

"If I recall correctly, wasn't it the Arcadian Army that broke the back of the United Army of the Four Kingdoms in the Nian Campaign? Which also result in the Four Kingdoms losing almost half of their army along with most of their experienced officers?" Ren pointed out.

"They did that only because they wanted to strike at the Four Kingdoms they didn't take any of the displaced Faunus into their own Kingdom after the fighting was over. They keep everyone else out of their Kingdom while they marched wherever they want with their army." Blake retorted.

"Can you two not talk about this right now? I was hoping to enjoy my lunch in the comfort of talking with friends, not in the discomfort of a political discussion." Jaune said as the group reached their usual table.

"Sorry Jaune." Ren said as he sat down next to Nora but Blake didn't really respond and nor did he really expect her too. If anything she seemed to prefer staring him down at the moment, Jaune couldn't help but remember what his father told him. So it was a bit unsettling for her to be looking at him like that.

He would need to be careful around her for the time being.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

"So what do you guys think of Jaune?" Blake asked from her bed with a book in her hands.

"What about him?" Weiss asked from her desk, the heiress tended to study just before bed.

"I was just thinking about him." Blake said casually, Yang's head appeared from the bathroom with a toothbrush in her hand.

"What's this? Blakey has a crush?" She asked with a cackle of glee.

"It's not like that Yang." Ruby butted in and Yang gave a sly smile.

"Why Ruby? Worried she's muscling in on your man?" Ruby's face turned to a color that matched her name.

"It's not like that." Blake cut in before Ruby could defend herself.

"Then what is it?"

"Well, I don't know, there's just something fishy about him. Like he's hiding something, didn't you see how he acted when Ren and I started talking during lunch?" Yang shrugged.

"Maybe he's got a crush on you and got jealous when you and Ren started talking."

"Oh come on Yang, we all know that Ren and Nora are together. There's no way Ren would go for some quiet girl like Blake." Weiss said then turned to look at Blake a slight grimace on her face.

"Sorry."

"Whatever, you're all still missing the point." Blake said.

"That's because you haven't gotten to it." Weiss said as crossed her arms.

"I've already said it; Jaune was acting suspicious during lunch."

"Yea that's because you and Ren were talking about politics. I can't think anyone else besides Weiss who likes to talk about that stuff." Yang remarked.

"No it was precisely around the point that you mentioned Arcadians that he got tense." Blake said as she closed her book.

"Maybe he had a relative that got killed by them? The Arcadians did leave a high body count in both wars they were a part of." Weiss said but Blake still shook her head.

"No it can't be that, I know it's something else." Blake said as she set her book aside then pulled her duvet up to her chest as she settled into bed but the atmosphere of the room had changed a little.

The three other girls in the room exchanged looks as she settled down. None of them were really prepared at how obsessed the quiet girl seemed to become over this.

Yang just hoped this curiosity wouldn't come back to bite them later.

* * *

 **My oh my, why aren't things already beginning to pick up on Remnant. Jaune's trying to get a grasp on his new team without starting a mutiny while making some interesting acquaintances and Alexander is making some startling discoveries. Blake is already being Blake.**

 **These next few chapters are going to have some construction going on in them as I want to build upon this particular world of RWBY that I'm making. Hence why I devoted more than a few lines to talking about the addition of a school infirmary along with the courses that the school offers. Though I feel an infirmary would be actual important in a school designed to train people to use deadly weapons and even deadlier powers against creatures that in my mind would rip and tear apart anyone they see in front of them.**

 **Along with that we're going to be seeing a lot more of dear ol' Alexander mainly cause it's to help put perspective on some of the more "alien" aspects I want to employ into the RWBYverse.**

 **Also I might also I enjoy the militaristic battles, which on a side note that I want to ask you more sophisticated experts amongst those that are reading this, which of these weapons would you rather equip your soldiers if they had to fight the Grimm? The F2000, the Famas, G3A3, or the Scar-H. Let me know in your review of the chapter or PM me your thoughts.**

 **Another thing I want to throw out there, if anyone wants to suggest names of red shir-I mean characters. Yes, characters, ha ha ha...anyways if ya'll wanna throw out your own OC maybe even teams then let me know in a message or review and we can talk about it.**

 **Of course as always, thanks to TheMightyTeaRex for letting me bounce stupid ideas off him while we talk about our respective stories so go check him out if you haven't already.**

 **As always feel free to leave a Review about your thoughts on the chapter whether it was good or bad. Or PM me if you having something you want to talk about story related or not and don't forget that I update my profile on the progress of the next chapter for each story.**

 **Till Next time!**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jaune opened his eyes at the feeling of vibration on his bed, rolling over to his right he could see his scroll jutting out from underneath the pillow. The small light indicator was flashing as it buzzed with his morning alarm, reaching out he grabbed it to turn it off.

Sitting up slowly he looked around to see if he had woken anyone up but all three of his teammates were still asleep. He wasn't surprised, not many people woke up at four in the morning even Pyrrha who considered running the entire perimeter of Beacon, twice, an easy warm-up didn't wake up till five.

He slowly made his way over to the dresser and pulled his workout clothes out before heading over to the bathroom.

As he stripped his clothes off, he couldn't help but think about the last few days. It had felt like a crazy dream for him, to finally be in Beacon where heroes were trained to protect the people.

Had he not tried at all he would be back in Arcadia training to be some military officer. Which to be fair to his father, he would still help people but he never understood what it was they were fighting.

The reports he had always read seemed to give the impression that they weren't actually authentic Arcadian Military reports but watered down version. This begged one very simple question to Jaune in regards to them.

What were they hiding?

He shook his head, now wasn't the time to focus on that. He needed to get his morning routine done for breakfast started. He made it a point to eat with his teammates at every meal as a way to further cement their relationship.

Jaune was pretty sure that Nora trusted or at least liked him. Ren on the other hand was either a really docile person to others or he didn't like him. Then again it might just be a normal case of shyness.

Maybe they should go out to Vale, maybe see a movie or eat out at some place?

Nodding to himself he stepped out of the bathroom holding his folded night clothes in one hand. Setting it on his bed he looked around the dark room to see if anyone was awake but thankfully no one was awake.

Jaune grabbed his water bottle and hand towel then left the dorm room, careful not to close the door too hard before heading down the hallway. Now all he needed to do was find where the school's gym was, he went to go check his scroll for the school's map but when he went to pat his pockets he was surprised to find them empty.

He had forgotten his scroll in the dorm room.

"Great."

* * *

 **15 Minutes Later…**

Jaune finally made his way into the gym, the lights were on but he was even more surprised to see a few people already there.

On the far side of him was a girl with a pixie hair cut who was by a speed bag letting loose while to his far right was a second girl with raven black hair who was squatting with a bar that had at least six plates on it.

Jaune nodded to himself then walked towards the cardio section towards his right where he stood in front of a row of treadmills. Doing a quick stretch to loosen up his legs he hopped on one, turning it on he brought the machine up to six miles then began a light jog.

A few minutes passed by then Jaune started to pick up pace slowly, before he had gotten into Beacon he would already be taking deep breathes. Now though he assumed his Aura was helping his body tremendously as he was now sprinting at fifteen miles per hour without it putting a massive strain on him.

As he pumped his legs and arms he wondered if he could find some weights to strap on himself as Areto had done when she trained him.

Speaking of Areto, he couldn't help but think about what she and the rest of his family was up to at this point. He knew that his old man would be starting on his way back to Arcadia but his mother and sisters should already be in Arcadia.

Unless they didn't take an airship but instead took a ship, which would mean that they would still be out at sea at this moment. Which was kind of dangerous even with the Navy escorting them since he read about sea creatures that most people in the Arcadian Navy didn't like to fight.

Aside from typical Grimm creatures such as the serpent like Sea Feilong there were also the much rarer Krakens. Giant squid like Creatures of Grimm that tended to crush or break ships in two to eat the passengers as they're dumped in the cold sea.

However there was other equally if not more dangerous creatures that people described that could take on any two Arcadian warships and win without even having a scratch on their hides.

Jaune could feel the sweat start to form and run down his body soaking his shirt now. His lungs began to burn a little but he relished the feeling as he maxed out the treadmills speed at twenty miles an hour.

He began to lose track of time as he focused on sprinting, he felt surprisingly far more relaxed as he pushed himself than he had at any other point in the last few days.

"Hey!" Someone called out next to Jaune and he cursed violently as he nearly slipped. Hopping onto the sides of the treadmill Jaune took several deep breathes as he turned the speed way down on the treadmill. Jaune looked over to see Cardin standing with his arms folds, a curious look on his face.

"Oh, hey Cardin." Jaune said between deep breaths.

"Nothing much dude, you were going pretty fast there." The taller teen pointed out as Jaune wiped his sweat covered face with the collar of his soaked shirt.

"Ah, it's nothing."

"You say that but I came in here ten minutes ago and you were running at that speed the entire time till I came over." Jaune shrugged as he looked around quickly to see that more people had arrived to the gym.

"Wanna hit the weights with me? You seem like you can keep up with me for a little while." Cardin said and Jaune rubbed his chin in thought.

"I don't know."

"Come on dude." Cardin pressed and Jaune relented.

"Fine, let's go." He said as Cardin smiled and slapped his arm.

"That's what I'm talking about, the rest of my team isn't as serious as me when it comes to training but I suppose I'm already more than a few steps into it than they are." Cardin explained as they headed over to a row of benches for bench pressing.

"That's not unreasonable I suppose, maybe they've got different workout methods in accordance to their weapons or fighting styles." Cardin glanced at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Jaune shrugged a little.

"I mean, what kind of weapon do you use?" Cardin smiled at that.

"I use a mace."

"Well there you go; a mace needs good under body strength and grip to be wielded efficiently. Sure you should train your entire body to be able to move or respond quickly but strength is the key to using your weapon." Cardin nodded.

"That's a pretty good assessment what about you?"

"Me? I use a sword and shield so really it's an all-encompassing training for me. As my trainer always said, a swordsman should be able to move fast, strike hard and take a hit. So if I focus on one muscle group too much the chances of falling into an identifiable pattern can be a determent against an opponent." Cardin had a small frown on his face as he slid on a pair of forty five pound weights to either side of a bar then laid down on the bench.

"That shouldn't be a problem against the Grimm; they're just mindless monsters to kill."

"Mindless, maybe but still dangerous if fighting them was truly easy then they wouldn't be such massive problem would they?" Cardin snorted at that as he started lifting and lowering the bar at a steady pace.

"That's just because other people aren't pulling their weight, you and I, we're doing what needs to be done. Everyone else is just being selfish cowards more concerned about their own goals than the collective good and the Governments encourage that independence." Cardin said as he set the bar back on its rest then stood up and Jaune took his place.

"I mean isn't that what the Great War was all about? Individuality is the key for us to be the best we can be." Jaune said as he gripped the bar then raised it up.

"I'm not arguing against that but I just think society should just stop tiptoeing around the subject of how Huntsmen and Huntresses should be treated like they should be, as heroes. We're saviors of those that are weaker and they should acknowledge that in how they treat us." Cardin said as Jaune raised and lowered the bar repeatedly.

"I'm gonna have to disagree with that to a certain extent, it's one thing to want to be acknowledge for the work Huntsmen and Huntresses do but we shouldn't demand to be treated better than everyone else."

"Huntsmen and Huntresses are heroes and should be treated as such." Cardin repeated and Jaune grunted as he set the bar back on its rest and sat up. In the corner of his eye he could see Pyrrha walking into the gym now.

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this Cardin." Jaune said as he stood up and looked at the taller teen as he slid an additional pair of plates to each side of the bar.

"Fair enough." He said as Jaune stuck out his hand.

"I'm gonna go talk with my partner, good luck with your workout." He said as Cardin gripped his hand and shook it. Jaune headed over to Pyrrha who was stretching under a pull up bar, Jaune walked up to the pull up bar on her left.

"Heyyyyy." He said and cursed himself mentally at how weird that greeting was, Pyrrha looked up and smiled at him.

"Good morning Jaune, I was surprised to find you had already left when I woke up." She said as she stood up straight. Jaune however couldn't help but admire her workout outfit, a pair of black gym shorts with a red outline and a crimson tank top.

"Ah, well, yea, I guess I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd blow off some steam by coming here early." He said as he coughed into his fist.

"Is something a matter?" She asked a brief flash of concern crossing her face but Jaune looked up at the pull up bar.

"It's nothing to worry about." He said as he reached up and rubbed his hands on the metal bar before gripping it.

"If it was nothing to worry about then you wouldn't have needed to come here early." Pyrrha pointed out, Jaune opened and closed his mouth then nodded.

"Okay, you got me there." He said and Pyrrha just laughed softly as she grabbed the bar above her now as well.

"So Jaune, what's on your mind?" She asked as she started doing pull ups.

"Ah, it's just the usual I guess. I'm still concerned where I am with Ren and I think Blake doesn't like me." Jaune said as he started doing pull ups as well. In the corner of his eye however he could see that Pyrrha was already switching over to more complex moves.

She was keeping her arms straight as she leveled herself with the bars at shoulder height while her legs were tucked in as she twisted at the waist to her left and right. Jaune on the other hand decided he should switch it up as well.

"Well I don't think Ren actually hates or dislikes you. From what I can tell he just seems to be a quiet person as for Blake I think it's best to reverse a final decision on that till you can actually talk to her about it." Pyrrha said as Jaune swung back and forth until he could get the momentum to swing his knees over the bars. Then he slowly lowered himself down till he was hanging upside down with his legs wrapped around the bars then began to do crunches.

"Fair enough." Jaune grunted before focusing on his workout by the time he reached his twentieth repetition he looked over to see Pyrrha was now doing some other bizarre exercise that quite frankly just made him want to stop in order to watch her move.

Pyrrha was now above the bar with her leg straight and her feet together as she began to lower and raise herself repeatedly. Jaune honestly didn't know what that was meant to do over traditional pull up workouts but he supposed it was just something she did.

In the end the two of them continued to work out together but Jaune couldn't help but feel a little awkward about it since he didn't really say anything. Sure he'd respond to a few of Pyrrha's questions like his favorite food or what he'd like to do for fun but other than that he didn't say anything to the red head.

"Well the cafeteria opens up for breakfast in forty minutes, we should head back to get changed into our uniforms and wake the other two up." Pyrrha said as she wiped her face with a small white hand towel that she had brought with her.

"Right…Let's go." Jaune said as he drank a mouthful from his water bottle then held it out towards Pyrrha; the red hair girl didn't seem to have her own bottle.

Jaune remember how much Areto told him that it was important to keep hydrated as the cruelest torture that a soldier could bring upon themselves was not having enough water.

Pyrrha hesitated as she looked down at the bottle in Jaune's outstretched hand. She could see that Jaune was distracted as he had a thoughtful look on his face. She took it and as she drank from it she couldn't help but feel the heat explode from her face. She hoped she wasn't blushing.

The water however was nice and cool. She closed the cap to the water bottle and handed it back to Jaune who smiled as he took it back.

A part of Pyrrha was glad that he didn't notice but another part realized that she was a little disappointed that he didn't care or at least notice.

"So shall we go?" Jaune asked and she nodded. As the two of them left the gym Pyrrha couldn't help but admire him from behind a little. Jaune was physically well fit person and to her he looked rather handsome.

At the same time there were a few things that were rather odd about him. The biggest thing was why he didn't have his Aura unlocked, had he gone to a Combat School then they would have unlocked it for him.

Though from the way he talked, it seemed he was trained individually. This wasn't that strange, as there were a number of other students that had gotten in without going to a combat school, for instance Weiss Schnee.

Even then whoever it was that trained them, they would have unlocked his Aura for him. So how come his Aura was stilled locked even during Initiation?

Lastly was his name, Jaune Arc, for some reason Pyrrha couldn't help but get a strange itch of recognition whenever she heard it.

She needed to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Alexander stood on the cliff side watching as four Lightnings roared through the sky above him. Three Valkyries thundered as they set down on the beach. Waiting for them were nearly two full Contuberniums of his Praetorians that escorted his injured daughter and her friend.

They were not the only people being guarded however. With them were another dozen wounded men and women of the Intelligence Agency.

Lastly were the bodies of ten operatives that had died in the field with them over the weekend. Ten more lives that didn't need to have ended so soon but fell nonetheless.

It was tiresome for Alexander, the constant death of those that he led. Most would imagine a near immortal warrior with centuries of bloodshed on his hands would have been fine with it.

Yet it was because he could remember every death of those that had been with him over that many years that it started to weigh on him. Very few of those that he regarded as friends ever get a peaceful death, most dying brutally on the field.

He could remember walking into the Great Hall of Murias as it burned in the fires of its death. The scent of blood and brimstone coupled with the screaming of people as they died to blade or fire.

He remembered the waves of Grimm crashing into their lines over and over again two centuries after that when he set forth the first massive campaign to expand their territory.

Several centuries later there was the Razing of Roselake, where gaps in their lines led to an entire town that had been used as shelter for noncombatant civilians to be massacred. Thousands of elder folk, women and children were butchered before word even got to him that a Grimm horde had breached their lines.

By the time Alexander had gotten there with several rifle regiments, the sight and smell of the dead after lying unburied in the scorching summer heat for a week made most of his men to vomit immediately.

"Sir." A voice said from behind him and he turned to see Zus standing a few feet away from him. The young man had a cast around his arm and a bandage that covered stiches on his forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Alexander asked and the younger man nodded.

"I'm fine sir but the Hospitallers tell me I should take it easy for a few weeks." Alexander nodded.

"You should listen to them."

"I'm fine sir; really, I can still finish the wrap up operations." Zus began to say but Alexander shook his head.

"That won't be necessary Zus; I'll take over it for you. I've already arranged with Arthus to save a spot for you to board the Nightingale." Alexander said as he pointed towards the Light Cruiser in the distance and he could see the younger man wanted to argue against him but he sighed in resignation.

"Yes sir." Zus said and walked down the hill past him towards the beach. Alexander smiled sadly at the man's willingness to continue despite his injuries but Alexander had an ulterior motive to staying in Vale for the time being.

* * *

 **Four Days Earlier…**

Alexander fastened the greave around his leg before standing up straight. He stood in the middle of a Valkyrie with Arthus, Huelin, Dominus, Hemma, Ryoko, Bruna, Elva, Nesea, Bryony and Kai accompanying him as well.

Normally the Valkyrie could twenty five men seated or thirty standing but with a full Contubernium in their plate armor along with him made it a little cramp in the compartment. Alexander bent down to pick up his helmet; he could see his reflection in the black glass of the eye slits on his helmet.

"3 Minutes till we arrive!" The pilot's voice called out over the intercom, he slid the helmet over his head. Once the helmet was secured, there was a brief buzz and the black glass seemed to disappear as the helmet's HUD activated.

There was a stream of messages of the helmet's system gave the all clear to its status. In the top right corner was general information that was listed from time to the power status of the helmet.

Looking around he could see the ten members of the Contubernium highlighted as the helmet identified who they were. All of the Praetorians had donned their own visored Barbuta helms as well; they knew that potential dangerous that may await them.

When Alexander had asked what had happened to his daughter and her team. She told him of there being a contract for a Huntsman that was put forth from a small town in the far south of Sanus by the name of Springmond.

Having been one of the few teams that graduated from Beacon that decided to stick together afterwards, they figured that they would have been able to tackle whatever Grimm that trouble Springmond.

What they had encountered however was something that none of them expected. The town had become a twisted haven; Katherine did however remember some of the knowledge that Alexander had bestowed upon her that made her want to leave her position as heir to the Arcadian Throne.

What scared her even more however was the idea that whoever had put that contract out had in fact done so in hopes to lure her or others in on purpose.

When she started to describe the pink skinned Neverborn of the Lord of Dark Delights, Alexander knew he had to act. As such he set for that every available unit that was still left in Vale had to meet him at the coordinates of the town and to be prepared for combat.

He had even gotten in touch with the Naval Squadron that was anchored a day's travel from Patch in the Southern Valean Sea.

The Landing Helicopter Dock ship attached to the Squadron had dispatched a company of infantry who would fly in Valkyries as well. They would have arrived an hour ahead with orders to observe the town without entering it until Alexander got there.

Along with that there was supposed to be a second squadron of Vultures that would be arriving in at least another twenty minutes. When that happens Alexander hoped to raze the town Springmond and contain the threat before its influence sank too deeply in the surrounding lands.

Alexander looked to his left and even through the hull of the Valkyrie; the helmet highlighted the outline of several other Valkyries. One of them carried a second Contubernium while the rest carried various amounts of agents that were able to answer Alexander's call.

"30 Seconds!" The pilot shouted again and Alexander turned around towards the ramp. He could feel the deceleration as the Valkyrie slowed down, then declined before opening it's back ramp.

Alexander didn't need to give any orders as he picked up his greatsword which had been lying down on the seats to his right then headed down the ramp.

Turning right he cleared the Valkyrie as the Praetorians followed him, their pollaxes were held at ready. Looking around he could see that they had set down in a large field with a stream to their north and several hills in the distant east.

The metal heads of the Praetorian weapons glowed with cold blue light as their power fields were activated. Other Valkyries landed nearby with their ramps opening up to disgorge their own passengers.

They wore hard shell chest plates with inbuilt fighting load carriers and attached shoulder guards. Not only that they had vambraces that stretched from the elbow to the top of their hands and greaves that covered from the knee to the top of the foot.

On their heads were enclosed infantry helmets that had inbuilt night vision, a Friend or Foe Identification system, sound dampeners, radios and a respirator system.

Their weapons were the standard infantry rifle, the Agripinaa mark 17, which were all colored black to match their kit, one soldier ran up to Alexander, his helmet flashed him showing that it was Zus.

"Sir, I've got two and a half squads worth of agents with me." Alexander nodded as the last of the Valkyries rose then soared away, the downdraft sending a flurry of leaves from the trees towards them.

He turned to the south, eight miles away was supposed to be the town of Springmond. Yet even from where they were he could see columns of smoke rising into the sky.

"The soldiers that arrived here received my orders correct?" Alexander asked as he looked at Zus.

"Yes, they should be moving to meet us right now."

"If they received my orders then why is there smoke rising from Springmond then?" Alexander asked but Zus shrugged.

"I'm not really sure my Lord."

"Organize the squads and prepare to move now." Alexander said and Zus nodded before jogging back to the assembled group of operatives.

"Have Hilgar stick with the Zus when they're ready to move, we're going ahead." Alexander said as he looked at Arthus who nodded once.

They set off at a jog towards the town.

* * *

 **10 Minutes later…**

Alexander raised a hand, the Praetorians stopped in their tracks then dropped into a defensive stance at his sides and behind him. There was a rustle nearby then ten soldiers emerged from bushes and behind trees in front of him. The lead figured stopped at seeing him.

"It's the High Lord you morons, kneel." The lead figure said as he dropped and the others quickly followed suit.

"Stand up, you never have to kneel to me in the field, we're all comrades out here." Alexander said as he gestured for them to stand up, his helmet flashed the lead man as a First Sergeant, the most senior NCO in an Infantry Company. As such they were often given responsibilities of leading or taking care of the Company business even over other Lieutenants.

"Yes sir." The man said, unlike Zus and the other operatives. The soldier before him wore black armor and webbing over the olive drab battle dress of Arcadian infantry.

"So what's the situation here Sergeant?" The man seemed to hesitate at that but then pointed south.

"I believe the Captain would have a better answer for you sir." Alexander nodded as he followed the squad. It wasn't long till they reached a less dense portion of the forest near the north side of the town.

There he could see around thirty soldiers in a rough line facing the town, weapons pointed towards it.

Looking past them he could see the wooden walls of the town were in ruins, they were broken and splintered to the point that it was surprising that they still were standing. Past that he could see that there were fires raging unchecked within the town.

What really caught his eye was the blurs of pink creatures that darted back and forth behind the ruined walls. There were a few bodies strewn about at the destroyed gate of the town which had been battered aside.

A thought occurred to him, if the walls and gate were destroyed. That would mean that the Daemonettes had attacked the town from the outside, not from within.

Were they summoned here? If so that meant that the summoning ritual had taken place within the forests that they were currently in. He needed to find it and destroy it.

But they needed to eliminate the Daemonettes within the town first as was there was no guarantee that destroying the ritual would immediately sever their link to the material realm.

"Arthus." He called out and the Praetorian was by his side within a moment.

"Yes my lord?"

"Take Hilgar and comb the surrounding forests, I feel there's a location that may be anchoring the Neverborn here. Find it and destroy it along with whoever is there." Arthus nodded then set off as Alexander turned to see three men walking towards him, one of whom carried a portable radio transceiver on his back.

"Sir, Captain Degassa reporting." The lead man said bowing his head briefly.

"Captain, what do you know?" Alexander said as he kneeled down, embedding his Greatsword into the ground, even as he kneeled he was still taller than the captain.

"What we've gathered is there's a force maybe forty strong of those pink bastard, it's hard to tell as most of my spotters can't look at them for too long." Degassa pointed towards the gate.

"We also think the gate is rigged but we don't know if the explosives are primed."

"How do you know it's rigged?"

"We found several boxes marked with the Schnee logo, one of them was still filled with mining explosives. So we reckoned that whoever was helping the Neverborn over there must have set it up."

"However we did check the water and found that we can cross it but it'll be a little difficult as it is about five feet deep and thirty feet wide. My other platoons however already crossed further up and down the river in order to surround the town, communications have been a little spotty. The helmet coms can't break the interference but the radio packs have enough juice to make brief orders possible." Degassa said.

"Are they in position though?" Alexander asked and the Captain nodded.

"They are but I have to say sir that we're not actually in the best position to take the town, we don't know how many people there are but my scouts suggest that the town is big enough for maybe two or three thousand. We're only barely over company strength." Degassa pointed out.

"We're not taking the town, we're destroying it but first we must cripple The Enemy, if we try waiting to strike then it may have dire consequences further down the line." Alexander said as he scanned the walls once more for movement.

"I'll understand sir; I'll start getting into contact with my platoon leaders and have them attack. It shouldn't take us more than ten minutes to get everyone through the walls."

"Alright, I'll go first and cover you while you get your men across that river. Zus! Stick with the Captain on this." Alexander called out to the lead Operative who stood a few feet away and he nodded.

"Wait, how are you going to cover us sir?" Degassa asked as he looked up at him. Alexander smiled inside his helmet as he stood up, towering over the smaller man and pulled his greatsword out of the ground.

The soldiers around him turned to look at him with his greatsword that was as tall as most of them and wider than any of their hands held side to side, the Captain nodded.

"Oh."

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later…**

Alexander stepped out of the water with ease, while most men would be submerged almost to their heads. He had no trouble wading through the water that didn't even reach his chest while holding his sword overhead.

Looking over his shoulder he could see the infantrymen setting up assault stubbers while the other soldiers organized into their squads. One of the squads of operatives that Zus had formed was beginning to get into the water. However they wouldn't be ready to attack just yet, which was where he came in.

Moving forward he came to a portion of the wooden wall that had been practically destroyed to nothing. Only a few sections of the wood surface was still intact, moving back a few steps he crouched low then charged at it.

The wood came apart with ease as he broke through; the now large hole where he had barreled through in the wall caused that portion of the wall to collapse. Looking at it he realized that actually helped as it spread out enough that it would be easy for his soldiers to maneuver over to get into the town.

He turned towards the town expecting to see Daemonettes standing before him instead he saw several dozen townsfolk.

All of them had crazed looks in their eyes, lacerations covered their skin, and some were covered in blood, feces, or other bodily fluids. Most of them also were in fact naked but all of them held improvised weapons of clubs, kitchen knives, axes, pitchforks and shovels.

As he readied his greatsword there was a spark and hum as the old greatsword's power field erupted along the length of the blade. There was no way he could save them and if he went easy on them then something will take advantage of that.

They were less than a dozen feet now before the front row started running at him laughing and howling in pleasure as they sought his blood.

Alexander leapt forward swinging his greatsword downward taking an older man at the shoulder, the heavy blade carved down through his torso and out his hip. The man fell apart as Alexander spun around, swinging his greatsword low separating the legs of a woman at the knees as it carved through them effortlessly.

Leaping forward as the woman fell forward, he kneed her face and her skulled shattered. In the corner of his eye he could see a young boy swinging a shovel at him; he used his greatsword's crossguard to simply push the shovel aside before swinging backwards cutting through his elbows.

Alexander spun to the side with the momentum of the backhanded swing to take the boy's head off. Turning around he could see several more people coming at him.

He lunged forward thrusting his greatsword into one man's chest while back handing the man to his left, his lower jaw shattered in a cloud of blood, bone and teeth fragments.

He quickly lifted his greatsword up splitting the man he had impaled at the chest level before swinging downward taking the third man in the shoulder carving straight through him.

The sound of footsteps got closer to him from behind and he spun around swinging his greatsword with both hands in a downward diagonal cut. The blow cleaved a portly man in two as he held up a meat cleaver; the momentum of the greatsword hit a small girl next taking her head off.

A tall lanky man covered in feces and lacerations giggled as he came at Alexander with hands that had the fingers gnawed off. Alexander sidestepped with him ease, his greatsword bisecting the man as he quickly spun around to disembowel a woman.

She fell back laughing as she started to play with her intestines as they spilled out from her open body. Alexander stepped forward raising his sabaton boot and crushed her skull as he lunged forward once more elbowing another man in the face.

His skull caved inwards and Alexander quickly took his left arm off at the shoulder before cutting through his chest separating his shoulders from the rest of his body.

Spinning around he swung wide with the greatsword carving deeply into the chest of three people at once before knocking them all with bone shattering force as he barged through them.

A well-dressed man with the skin on his shaved head covered in stitches, each connecting different colored patches of skin together on his skull was aiming an antique hunting bow at him. Alexander didn't give him time release the arrow as he lopped off the man's right arm at the shoulder before taking his head with a follow up motion of his greatsword.

At that moment rifle fire opened up behind him and as he bisected another woman he could see in the corner of his vision a number of people jerking back or dropping as gunfire ripped into them. The numerous rifle rounds sent puffs of blood into the air as the people dropped from the withering gunfire.

It was at that moment that the Daemonettes made their move which Alexander found troublesome as it meant that they were waiting for his soldiers to follow in. He quickly lopped off a man's head before turning in time to see a twisted pink monstrosity of a human body coming at him.

The Daemonette reached out to him with a pair of pincer claws. Alexander ducked down then quickly swung his greatsword in an overhead arc taking the creature's arms at the midpoint before spinning towards it's right then bring up greatsword up to take it at the armpits.

The powered greatsword cleaved through the torso separating shoulders and the Daemonette's head from the rest of its body. He looked up to see Zus leading the black cladded operatives in a steady two ranked line of firing, the first ranking kneeling as the second rank stood over them firing bursts of rifle fire.

Zus made sure to keep them from firing too quickly in order to avoid them from having to reload to close to each other. More soldiers climbed over the destroyed wall he had come through, he could see a few of them priming grenades then tossing them at buildings that Daemonettes had been coming out of.

To the south, east and west he could hear more small arms fires with the small thumps of explosives going off. In the corner of his HUD he wasn't surprised to see less than five minutes had gone by since he had crossed the river ahead Captain Degassa.

More Daemonettes started to appear; ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, Alexander gritted his teeth as he dropped into a low stance. He could hear the soldiers moving up behind him as the rest of the platoon made it within the walls.

He charged.

* * *

 **Present Day…**

The Valkyries soared away from the beach. Leaving four of the Praetorians behind, they quickly turned to rejoin him on the hilltop.

Alexander looked down at his greatsword as it leaned against a rock; the greatsword as always was unblemished from scratches or nicks on the blade. A gift he had received from an old acquaintance long ago.

It had been a tough fight; he had to admit that much. Degassa had more than thirty soldiers wounded with another sixty confirmed dead.

The Operatives that Zus had brought with him were also hit pretty hard; even Arthus and the other Praetorians didn't come out unscathed. Of the twenty Praetorians that he sent out into the forest, four of them ended up dying with Ryoko needing surgery as she has lost her right arm.

While they had destroyed the taint of Springmond Alexander was still left in the dark as to what exactly was the point of it in the first place. The Praetorians had searched for the ritual place and found that it was a few miles to the west in a small cave but they couldn't find anything in terms of answers.

Whoever that had summoned the Daemonettes had left the moment they appeared while leaving some of the Neverborn as they had somehow knew that the spot would be found. They took or destroyed any actual trace of them being there with fire.

If anything the biggest concern he had was what Katherine had told him. Whoever did this had a plan in mind which meant they wanted to do this, most likely to test it out.

Alexander knew that he would need to look for answers not just here in Vale but also in Arcadia. He needed to talk with his wife and the others about what might be coming in the future.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jaune was sitting in the back of Goodwitch's class, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora sat to his right while team RWBY sat in the row in front of them.

He wasn't sure what was more entertaining to watch, Weiss getting annoyed by Ruby or the fight that was happening.

Two boys from some of the other teams were clashing with swords; one was a tall skinny fellow and the other a more robust build with average height.

He didn't remember their names; in fact it always felt like whenever he tried remembering people he saw they would just be black shadows in his mind.

Looking back at the fight if Jaune had to guess which would win he would pick the shorter of the two.

The taller one had an Estoc of sorts with a gun built into the handle; he imagined that the straight edge blade was how he aimed as he was able to fire accurately from the hip on the wind up of a thrust. However it appeared that he needed to reload after every shot.

If he had to guess it may have to do with the relative small size of the weapon which wouldn't allow a large capacity of ammunition.

The other boy however had a saber, which from what Jaune had seen so far it had an internal mechanism that shift the shape of the saber into a sickle. While on his left arm was a narrow red kite shield that could cover most of his body if he twisted to the side with it in front of him.

Which kind of reminded Jaune of Crocea Mors sheathe but it turned into a heater shield which was wider but not as long as the kite shield.

"Who do you think will win?" Pyrrha asked breaking the relative silence of the group.

"I think Markoos will win." Weiss said from below.

"Who?" Nora asked.

"The one with the shield." Ren explained.

"Ooooh, I thought he was Tommy which means be the other one is actually Tommy." Nora said.

"Actually the other one is Graz." Yang said as she glanced up at them.

"Oh." Nora and the others chuckled save for Weiss and Blake. Speaking of which Jaune still didn't feel comfortable around the black hair girl for some reason there was just something off about her whenever they were together.

"So what do you think Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she nudged him with an elbow.

"Hm? Oh, who'd win, I'd guess Markoos would win. While Graz is good with his weapon, Markoos however can control the fight with the shield and his saber thingy." Jaune said and Pyrrha nodded.

"That's what I think though at the same time Markoos is a bit slow on the uptake in taking advantage of that. He spends far too much time just reacting than trying to push forward, not to mention his stance is all wrong when he's blocking with his shield. He's not leaning into it so a good push can put him off balance and with a large shield like that if he can't regain his footing properly then it'll take a few more moments to straighten himself out which if Graz can recognize that and take that moment to get a good hit on his scrambled defense then he'll have Markoos on the back foot." Most of the group looked at Pyrrha whose cheeks turned a little pink.

"Sorry." She said but Yang laughed as she reached up to patted Pyrrha's knee.

"That's our Champion for ya; always looking at a person's fighting style." She said loudly with drew a few heads to glance at them but they quickly turned away once they saw it was Yang. She had already gotten a reputation of being loud.

"Oi! Keep your hands on her, she's ours!" Nora cried out as she slapped Yang's hand away then embraced Pyrrha like a mother protecting her child.

"Shhh, it's okay little one." Nora cooed.

"Nora you can let her go now." Ren said but Nora shook her head.

"No way Ren, her hair smells really nice." Nora said as she took another sniff of Pyrrha.

"That's disgusting." Weiss said.

"How's this disgusting, do you not like smelling nice things?" Nora asked.

"I do…" Weiss started to say but Nora put a finger on her lips.

"Shhhh, come smell the awesomeness of Pyrrha's shampoo." Nora said.

"Nora that's enough you're bothering Pyrrha." Jaune said and she pouted.

"But Jaune Jaune." Jaune held up a finger.

"No buts Nora or I'm telling Ren to not make any pancakes in our dorm room." Jaune said and Nora sat down with a pout. She had somehow gotten permission from Goodwitch to allow a portable electric stove to be given to them for their room.

Jaune had no idea how she convinced the strict Deputy Headmistress to relent to such a request but it worked. So Nora now was hoping to head to Vale during the upcoming weekend to get ingredients to make pancakes.

"So who do you think she's gonna call up next to fight?" Ruby asked.

"Oh! I hope it's me or Pyrrha." Yang said with a grin as she looked up at the red head and cracked her knuckles.

"I don't think that's going to happen, she's only called up team leaders so far." Ren noted and Jaune grimaced.

The last time he actually dueled with another person was with Areto and he never got close to making it difficult for the Praetorian. Below them the match finally drew to a close with Markoos as the winner but he had barely beaten the other teen.

Professor Goodwitch started to lecture both of them about what they needed to do to get better. She then turned to face the rest of them, tapping on her scroll to remove their images from the main display.

"Alright class, we have time for one more fight. For that fight, it will be Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester." Jaune felt his hands grow cold at his name being called up.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked softly and he snapped his head to look at her. The others were looking at him as well and he realized he probably didn't look so good at the moment.

"You don't look so good." Ren noted and Jaune cursed silently.

"I'm fine, I just, not good with crowds."

"Ooooh it's stage fright." Ruby said and she flashed him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry Jaune we're behind you!" She said and he nodded as he stood up to head towards the locker rooms. As he stepped inside he could see Cardin to the far right already putting on the last grey plate of his armor on. Cardin pulled out a massive flanged mace and start taking a few swings with it.

Jaune gulped as he headed towards his locker, thankfully he remember where it was and was able to open it. Still he couldn't help but notice the small tremors in his hands, was he really that nervous?

Yes.

That was all he could think in response to that question he felt like he needed to throw up and piss all at the same time. He took a deep breath as he braced his hands against the edges of his locker.

He wanted to be here, he wanted to do excel he felt he had the knowledge to do some real good. But he was scared, nervous, anxious, frightened all at the same time.

"Jaune?" A soft voice called out from behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Pyrrha standing there.

"Oh, hey Pyrrha." He said as he looked away from her squeezing his eyes shut wishing she wasn't there to see him like this.

"Is everything alright?" She asked and he nodded but he didn't look at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Please don't keep me out on this Jaune, we're teammates, we're friends. You can tell me whatever it is that's bothering you." She said and he swore he could hear the note of pleading in her voice. He took a deep breath as he stood up straight then slowly turned to look at her; he was surprised to see the worry etched onto her face.

"I'm sorry Pyrrha, I'm just nervous is all." Jaune said and Pyrrha smiled. He couldn't help but note that it was a very nice smile.

"I understand that."

"Do you?" He asked and she quirked her head at that.

"I mean, you're a four time champion right? Do you still get nervous?" She smiled again and nodded.

"Every time but my mother always told me that when I'm in the arena with a opponent in front of me I should take the time to focus on myself. I didn't understand what she meant until I first entered a small tournament during my first year in Sanctum. I learned that I had to focus not on who's watching me but on who I should be watching. I tuned out every sound, every voice, forget about everyone but the person in front of me. When the world shrinks down to just you and them then it becomes a lot easier to see what needs to be done without having to worry about what others might think." Pyrrha said as she took a few steps closer but even with her close proximity it felt like there was something else going on but Jaune just couldn't put his finger on it. Pyrrha surprisingly reached up and put a hand on his shoulder for some reason it felt really reassuring when she did that.

"I believe in you Jaune." She said and he smiled.

"Thank you Pyrrha."

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later…**

Jaune walked onto the fighting stage, as he took his spot he could see Cardin standing ten feet away from him.

There was a general murmur as the other students talked amongst each other on who would win; it was a little disheartening that a number of them assumed he was going to lose. Yet that disheartened feeling turned into a strange growth of anger that blossomed at their assumption on who was going to win.

Jaune looked up at the very top where his team was. He was happy to see that they were giving him their complete attention; Nora was waving her arms out yelling to break a leg. Ren as always didn't say anything but he could see the other boy nod at him.

Lastly was Pyrrha who gave him a warm encouraging smile. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he focused his thoughts; soon he lost focus on the numerous voices then all he could hear was his breathing. He didn't even realize that he had been hyperventilating but now he drew it back down to a steady pace, he opened his eyes.

"Are you ready Jaune Arc?" Professor Goodwitch asked.

"Yes ma'am." He said as he drew Crocea Mors but left the sheath at his side. From his brief time with Cardin in the gym he knew that he valued strength above all else so trying to block may not be the best idea. Instead he'd need to just be faster than him.

"Begin!" Professor Goodwitch called out and Jaune was caught off balance as Cardin jumped at him. The larger teen easily crossed the ten foot distance between them.

Cardin roared as he swung his mace down at Jaune, jumping back he was able to avoid the strike that sent cracks through the floor where he had just been standing.

He was right to avoid trying to block the strikes head on he, quickly gripping Crocea Mors with two hands he moved in drawing the sword back at his waist for a thrust.

Much to the testament of Cardin's ability to fight he spun quickly around lashing out at Jaune with a wide swing of his mace while using just his right arm to get an extra few inches of reach. Jaune however slide underneath the wide swing getting into Cardin's guard then sent a thrust upward aimed at underside of Cardin's arm.

There was a brief flash of dull light as the tip of Crocea Mors struck his arms, the force however lifted the arm up sending the larger teen off balance. Getting to his feet quickly Jaune spun clockwise bringing Crocea Mors up at an angle that struck Cardin's torso.

Cardin however took the hit as he jumped into Jaune sending him stumbling back as the larger teen brought his mace around to hit him.

Jaune jumped to the left avoiding the strike then quickly brought his blade around the strike at the back of Cardin's left knee hard enough to make it bend causing the large teen to fall to one knee.

Jaune quickly jumped behind Cardin to his left side, twisting as he moved bringing Crocea Mors to strike the back of Cardin's head. The larger teen dropped his mace as he was on his hands and knees.

Jaune was acting on instinct now from his training with Areto as he kicked the side of Cardin's head with his foot. Cardin rolled away and was now laying spread out on the ground not moving at all. Jaune stood over him, reversing the sword so that it pointed downward as he stood over him with it pointed at his neck.

As he brought the blade down he was surprised however that it never made contact with the teen's throat.

Instead it was covered in a purple glow he blinked as he remembered where he was. He looked up and realized that everyone was silent now and Goodwitch strode onto the stage.

"That is enough Mr. Arc; your opponent is down and out of the fight. Back. Off." She said her voice colder than a winter storm.

"I'm sorry." He said as he blinked a few more times and he forced his body to relax as the purple glow vanished from his blade giving him control once more.

"You may be a student but I expect you and everyone else here to fight honorably. Look at the screen Mr. Arc." Goodwitch pointed above him with her riding crop and Jaune looked up to see the screen that had their images on it.

Below that however was a bar that indicated Aura levels, his bar was barely even touched while Cardin's was in the red. More startling however was the fact that his bar was nearly empty.

"The strike you had delivered to the back of Mr. Winchester's head would have won you the match by tournament rules but had you continued with what you were doing you may very well have killed him with that next strike you were preparing." Jaune felt the blood drain from his face and hands at that as he glanced up at his team. Nora and Pyrrha both had looks of surprise on their faces while Ren had a thoughtful expression on his. Even team RWBY looked shocked at what he was going to do.

"Besides the screen above all of your scrolls have the function to monitor yours and your teams Aura's use it to act accordingly in fights. So while admittedly Cardin shouldn't have pressed the attack against someone that was better than him, what you did at the same time is something you must be aware of at all time. You all need to remember this, Aura is a mighty tool but it's not infallible and nor are you. If you make a mistake, people can die whether by your actions or lack thereof." Professor Goodwitch continued to talk though she was now addressing the class as a whole.

"Would the rest of team CRDL please come down to take your team leader to the infirmary to rest for a while, the rest of you can leave." She said and the students began to stand up then file out the main door. Jaune however stayed where he was expecting that she would want to talk with him. He looked up to see his teammates not leaving but he nodded towards Ren who started leading them out of the amphitheater.

"You and I need to have a talk Mr. Arc." Professor Goodwitch said as they were left alone.

"I know."

"Do you?" She asked and Jaune didn't respond.

"You fought well but your intent is what I'm concerned about. Were you trying to kill him?" She asked but he shook his head.

"Then what is it?" She asked as she stepped closer to him with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry." He said unable to think of anything or raise his head to look her in the eyes. He was surprised however when he felt a hand on his shoulder, Jaune looked up to see that her hard expression had softened a little.

"I know you are but I need to know why you did that."

"It wasn't my intention Professor, I just acted on how I was trained and I was trained that my enemies in general must be put down permanently." Jaune said and Goodwitch sighed as she took her hand off him.

"I understand but for now on you need to be mindful of what you do when you fight. Remember this, you can never kill to protect. You either take life or save it." She said, Jaune nodded and she gestured to the door of the locker rooms with her riding crop.

"You may leave now." He nodded his thanks then headed towards the locker rooms to change.

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

Jaune walked into the hallway outside of the locker room, he was glad to see that no one had waited for him. He didn't want to talk or even face any of them at the moment.

Jaune had no idea why he did what he did, sure the best reason he could think of was what he told Goodwitch but he couldn't help but wonder if there was something else to it.

He bet that even Areto would have reprimanded him for his actions. He never occurred to him to ask if Cardin would yield, no instead he immediately put himself in a position to strike a fatal blow and had he done so when Cardin didn't have a lot of Aura left then who knows what might have happened.

As he walked through the hallways he realized something, he wasn't actually that remorseful at his actions but at what the others would think of him if he had done them.

In fact the more he walked the more he felt a certain joy at it. He could remember a strange rush of watching the pained and frustrated look on Cardin's face as he struggled against Jaune.

"Hey." A familiar voice called out to him. He looked up to see the others standing in front of him. Pyrrha, Ruby, and Nora looked a little concerned. While Yang and Ren gave him scrutinizing looks as if they were trying to figure something out.

Blake and Weiss however didn't have very welcoming looks. Weiss looked at him as if he was some wild barbarian while Blake looked like she didn't trust him that close to her.

"Soooo, what's up?" He asked trying to put a cheerful note in his voice, which turned about to be the wrong thing to do.

"What happened down there?" Yang was the first to ask and Jaune shrugged.

"I tried winning."

"Winning? You looked like you wanted to kill him." Weiss pointed out.

"In fact you started smiling at the end." Jaune blinked he wasn't aware of that, he looked at Pyrrha who pursed her lips as she looked to the side.

"Okay fine, maybe I got carried away. You gotta understand that was the first fight I've been in where I felt like I was actually accomplishing something."

"Does that make it right what you did down there? You acted like an animal." Weiss said as she crossed her arms, for some reason Jaune swore Blake gave the white hair girl a venomous glare at that.

"Look I was planning on heading over to the infirmary after classes to say sorry for what I did, is that okay?" A small sneer seemed to brew under Weiss's face at that.

"Sure you are." Jaune couldn't but feel a little twinge of annoyance but thankfully Ren stepped in.

"Actually I'm a little curious about what happened, you said that was the first time you've won a fight. What about when you were training before coming here?" The normally silent teen asked and Jaune chuckled at that.

"My trainer didn't believe in letting me win, I don't think I ever came close to beating her. Even the wolves left a mark on me." That last part he realized he probably could have kept quiet about as Ruby's eyes widened at that.

"Oh what's this? I smell a _tail_." Yang said with a wide grin.

"Was that a pun?" Weiss asked and the blonde girl turned to her.

"I don't know _Weiss_ it?" She asked and Blake shook her head as Weiss wrinkled her face at that one.

"Now imagine what that's like living with her." Ruby said from behind her hands which she had covered her face with.

"I'm going to go." Jaune said as he turned away from the others.

"Ah come on Jaune Jaune, you don't have to leave. Weiss is just a grumpy because she's hungry." Nora said as she grabbed his arm.

"I'm not grumpy." Weiss said and Nora turned to look at her with a bright smile.

"Oh? So you're hungry then, good cause I am too." She said as she let go of Jaune's arm to latch onto the pale girl.

"You guys go on ahead; I'll catch up with you later." Jaune said as he started walking away, he didn't get far alone as Pyrrha caught up with him.

"You don't have to hang out with me." He said as he glanced at her but the red head just shrugged.

"True but I want too."

"Why?"

"Cause we're partners."

"Is that it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you going to ask me what happened during my duel with Cardin? I know you have questions."

"Hmm, I do but I also know that you'd tell me if you really felt like it."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because deep down I know you're a good guy."

"How can you be sure?"

"I don't know but that doesn't mean I can't think it."

"Maybe but being indecisive can be just as cruel as no judgment at all."

"What makes you think me or anyone else from our team or team RWBY is going to judge you."

"You make it sound like I said judging someone is a bad."

"Maybe it's not a wholly bad thing but it surely can't be entirely good."

"I would imagine judging someone's capability in a fight or whether or not they're going to lie to you is something many people would want to know."

"True but you can't be right about everything, appearances can deceive."

"In order to be deceived it requires you to trust everyone you meet."

"Do you not trust people then?"

"I trust them to do what any normal person would."

"But are we normal people?"

"Are we really any different?" Pyrrha had a strange expression on her face, he wasn't sure what it was that was he said that bothered her but he did feel responsible.

"Look Pyrrha I'm not trying to be an asshole I'm just, in a weird place at the moment."

"Its fine Jaune, I understand." He nodded not really sure what to say next, then looked at her. Pyrrha was looking ahead as they walked down the hallway but she seemed to be thinking about something as well.

What she was thinking about he had no idea, he was never really good at talking with girls which he would have thought would have been easy since he had seven sisters but apparently that didn't really count for anything.

"Well I'm going to go to the infirmary now then, might as well go and check on Cardin." Jaune said as they reached a small intersection in the hallway.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He shook his head.

"Nah I don't plan on hanging out there for long just a quick pop in and out. You go on ahead and catch up with the others." He said as he turned away from her giving a short wave over his shoulder as he left her there.

Pyrrha sighed as he watched the blonde boy walk away. She had to admit that was kind of a weird conversation even by her limited standards of experience.

Sure she found it really interesting about his viewpoints on whether or not they were normal people or well that what she assumed he meant. As it meant that he would continuously treat her like any other person; this made her very happy to know.

* * *

 **20 Minutes Later…**

Jaune opened the door to the infirmary; it didn't seem as busy as it was the first time he visited. Though he supposed Aura sped up the healing process quite a bit.

"Do you need some help?" A feminine voice asked and he turned to see an older dog Faunus student holding a scroll tablet.

"Oh, I was just looking for a student that should have been admitted here earlier." Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Alright, what's their name?"

"Oh, uh, Cardin Winchester." She nodded as she looked down at her tablet.

"Room 14, it's down that hall and to the right." She said pointed down towards his right.

"Thank you." He said and she nodded before walking off. For some reason Jaune got the impression that she was a little annoyed, was it something he said? He walked in the direction that she told him and it wasn't long before he spotted the room. The door was slightly ajar and laughter could be heard inside so he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A voice that sounded like Russel's called out so Jaune opened the door fully. Cardin was sitting on a bed while Dove, Russel, and Sky stood or sat around him.

"Uh, hey." Jaune said after a few moments where no one said anything, a smile split Cardin's face.

"What's up there Jauney Boy!" The others started to smile as they called out his name; Russel stood up and wrapped an arm around Jaune as he dragged him forward.

"Man you kicked my ass during that fight." Cardin said as Jaune sat down in one of the seats that were arrayed around the bed.

"Yea I didn't mean to go that far." They just started to laugh even harder and Jaune honestly didn't know what was going on.

"Man you never have to apologize for kicking ass, I'm just glad there's another human here that hold his own." Cardin said and for some reason there couldn't help but notice that something was odd about that statement.

"I know right, they even let them study medicine, I wouldn't trust them to give me a cough drop." Sky said with a small snarl on his face.

"I mean they bomb and start riots all the time how can anyone trust them." Dove pointed out earning nods from the other three.

"It's those damn politicians more concerned about getting their dumb votes even though this isn't even their Kingdom, they've got their own place." Cardin said.

"Yea the Four Kingdoms should have taken a page out from Arcadia and blocked any outsiders." Russel said which made Jaune perk his ears up; it seemed the four of them forget he was still in the room with them and had resumed some other conversation.

"Nah man, fuck Arcadia those fucking traitors are the ones that helped the animals win all by fighting dirty." Cardin said and Jaune cleared his throat.

"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" And the four of them looked at him then Cardin gave him a look that said as if he pitied him.

"My bad, before you came in we were talking about how it was stupid for the Four Kingdoms to let those damn Faunus run around as citizens but I say it's even worse that they allow them to attend Huntsman Academies." Jaune wasn't sure what to say as he looked at each of them, they all agreed with what was being said, he stood up abruptly.

"Something a matter?" Dove asked and Jaune scrunched his face into a snarl.

"Fuck off." He growled and the other teen's face darkened as he stood up.

"Whoa, calm down Jaune its okay none of those damn Faunus or traitors can hear us." Russel said a faint look of concern on his face. He reached out to put a hand on Jaune's shoulder but he slapped it away.

"What's wrong?" Russel said as he looked confused at Jaune.

"Did you really just ask what's wrong? Ya'll are being a bunch of sick fucks." Jaune said glaring at each of them anger bubbling in his chest.

"We're not assholes, we're just stating facts. Those Faunus in the White Fang go around expecting us to bow to their every need and apologize for being human, why should we? I'm proud at being human, aren't you?" Dove said as he stepped closer crossing his arms.

"I'm proud for being a good person not just because I'm fucking human. Don't you hear yourselves? You're exactly what the White Fang preach about."

"We didn't start it; we would have been fine with the way things were after the Great War. They got upset because we tried standing up to their greed, they got a Kingdom and their own continent but they wanted to do what they wanted."

"You moron, they started the Faunus Revolution because the Four Kingdoms wanted to keep them out as a whole. Not all of the Faunus could have made it to Menagerie so the Four Kingdoms were the nearest safe places for them to be." Jaune snapped at the other teen.

"So you're a filthy Faunus supporter huh?" Cardin asked and Jaune nodded.

"I am."

"Then get out, get out and never come into my sight again or you'll be the one in a hospital bed next time." Jaune shrugged as he turned away from them and headed towards the door.

"Fucking pathetic." Cardin growled, loud enough for him to hear. He stopped at the door, one hand on the doorknob as he looked over his shoulder at them.

"I'm only human after all."

* * *

 **I totally did that last line on purpose.**

 **Anyways it seems things have kicked off a little. Cardin's prejudice has finally come to light, Jaune's feeling a little cranky, Nora's hungry and Alexander has to now work on scrubbing that blood out from his armor.**

 **Originally the plan wasn't for me to stop here but I figured I should changed it in order to not make ya'll wait another week or two for it to come out. Especially since I've got a bunch of traveling to do so I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to devote to writing.**

 **Also I've decided to put the FN Scar-H, which uses the 7.62x51mm, as the Standard issue rifle of the Arcadian Military with the Standard, Long Barrel and CQC variants. With the addition of the FN Scar MK20 SSR for those that prefer to sit in the shade along with the Rheinmetall MG 3 as a general-purpose Machine Gun which will be referred to as the assault stubber in the story. While the more hefty .50 Caliber Machine Gun, think the M2 Machine Gun, will be referred to as an Heavy Stubber. Though I'll probably mix those two up since their commonly referred to as the same thing so you'll have to forgive me on that account.**

 **As always feel free to leave a comment or review whether you liked the chapter or not as I always find reading them to be interesting. Or if you're more inclined feel free to send me a PM I'm more than willing to have a nice chat. For those that are interested in getting a sneak peak into the structure of the story and how I'm forming it like the Arcadian Military or characters feel free to message me to talk about that as well.**

 **Anyways till next time!**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jaune walked into the cafeteria behind Pyrrha and the rest of his team for lunch. It had been nearly two weeks since the incident with Cardin and while Jaune wasn't a stranger to being bullied. He had to admit it was a little different when in a place with hormonal teenagers with powers that are training to fight creatures of Darkness.

In combat class Goodwitch had started allowing for challenges to start with little restriction on who can challenge who.

As such Cardin and his team had been constantly challenging Jaune to fights. Admittedly he had lost one or two but so far he'd been holding his own against Sky, Russel and Dove.

Cardin on the other hand was apparently adept at waiting for the right time to strike as Jaune beat his teammates.

At the same time Jaune had started hearing rumors that suggested that he tricked Cardin into him going easy on Jaune because he never went to Combat School.

This surprised a lot of people apparently including Jaune, as he didn't recall ever telling Cardin that he didn't go to Combat School. For other people though it was a mix of them reacting negatively to the so called dirty trick or slight admiration that Jaune was apparently a proficient swordsman despite that.

Jaune however didn't like the looks people however were sending his way because of all this. As he glanced around the large dining hall he could see a mixed bag of hostile or curious stares.

"How you holding up?" Pyrrha asked drawing his attention to her; the red head had fallen into step beside him.

"I'm fine I guess, just a little off put by the stares." He said as they got in line, Pyrrha laughed softly at that which Jaune couldn't help but smile a little as well.

"I guess for you it's a little bit amusing to see someone else be the focal point of other people's stares." Jaune said as he put a plate on Pyrrha's tray before his own.

"Thanks and yes its feels surprisingly like a weight as been taken off my shoulders."

"You really are strong then cause I feel tired already."

"Don't worry you'll get used to it." She said as they got to the food line.

"Maybe but I think I rather trade it back before that happens." Pyrrha laughed again.

"No deal."

"Aww." Pyrrha started to laugh again, Jaune started too as well as they reached the end of the line where Ren and Nora were waiting.

"What are you two laughing about?" Nora asked a puzzled look on her face.

"Ah, we're just having a little fun despite the situation Jaune has found himself in." Pyrrha explained.

"Ugh, I don't know how you stand it Jaune Jaune, they're so annoying." Nora said as her face twisted up.

"Leave it be Nora, it doesn't bother Jaune so it shouldn't bother us." Ren said.

"I wouldn't say it doesn't bother me at all, it's a bit strange but I'm used to strange."

"Fair enough, are you still not on speaking terms with Team RWBY?" The usually quiet teen asked as the four of them headed over to their customary table.

"I'm not on unspeaking terms with Team RWBY, just, half of them." Jaune replied.

"That half is also why the other half isn't speaking up so much as they want though." Ren pointed out.

"Look I'm not going to push anything with them because I've said my piece now it's up to them to figure out what they want to do." Jaune said as they sat down.

"And I suppose that's a part of what's happening with them as of late." Pyrrha said as she sat down next to Jaune.

"What do you mean?"

"Seriously? Were you not paying attention in Professor Port's class for like the last week and a half?" Nora asked and Jaune shrugged,

"I pay attention to Port not the others."

"Alright, what Grimm did he mention before going off in a tangent today?" Pyrrha asked.

"He talked about water based Grimm."

"Jaune." Ren spoke up.

"I'm not making this up." Jaune said defensively.

"Jaune." He repeated and Jaune sighed.

"Yes Ren?"

"We didn't have Port today." Jaune opened his mouth to say something but decide to keep quiet instead as he could see the smiles on Nora's and Pyrrha's faces.

"Point taken." Jaune said as before clearing his throat as he stick a fork into his salad. The four of them continue to sit and chat for a while as they enjoyed their lunch.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Alexander sighed loudly as he shut off his data slate then tossed it on the small table in front of him. He looked around the cabin, aside from him and the staff there was only two Praetorians. Though even they were relaxing over a game of cards, their helms off and their weapons set aside.

"Do you need anything my Lord?" A feminine voice asked and Alexander looked up to see a stewardess standing beside him.

"Its fine, I was just taking a break from reading." He said as he shook his head and the stewardess nodded.

"Well we'll be arriving soon my Lord but feel free to ask for _anything._ " She said stressing the last word and he could see her eyes roaming over him. He had decided to dress casually, so he wore a white button up shirt and dark gray trousers.

"Thank you" He said politely and she walked back towards the front but he could see the glances she kept giving him over the shoulder. Alexander rubbed the side of his face, he was glad Arabella wasn't here to see that.

It wasn't long until the pilots voice came over the intercom announcing their arrival in a few minutes. Alexander looked out the side window. In the ever closing land below he could see vast stretches of farmland below with the occasional cluster of buildings that made up small rural towns.

It wasn't long before the grey stones that made up a very large wall came into view. As the aircraft turned left, Alexander got a partial view of the city or more precisely the new capital of Arcadia.

Falias.

After the Fall of Murias in the east, Arcadia had been left without a place to call its capital. At first some had assumed Clove would become the new Capital.

That changed about four hundred years after they made landfall when Arcadia finally reached what appeared to be grassland that stretched for hundreds of kilometers wide.

There was one exception however; a relatively small cluster of mountains in what they would learn would be in the exact center of the grasslands. With the highest peak reaching about two thousand meters above sea level.

As such Alexander put it to a vote amongst the people and they picked this new region. Thus they colonized the mountain cluster and surrounding grassland giving the name Nyseion to the region for its solitude and beauty.

Sadly that effort took another four decades just to do as the Arcadian Army explored every inch and crevice of the mountain cluster. While there wasn't a lot of Grimm, there had been creatures that even surprised Alexander.

There they encountered great winged beasts larger than even any of the super heavy tanks that he could think of back in his old life. No doubt they were probably as powerful as well since in that short but terrifying time of conflict. They had only been able to kill two of them at the expense of thousands of lives before driving them off by destroying their nests.

When the proverbial dust finally cleared and they finished burying all those bodies. The construction could finally begin.

Though that's not to say that it every truly ended, bit by bit the capital was expanded. At first there was the original position of the Capital located on the very top of the largest mountain in the cluster. Soon after they realized that continuing to build on the mountains was far too time consuming.

As such they moved towards the base of the mountains for the rest of the city to live as Alexander took the original section of the capital. Thus naming it the High Citadel where he, the important facets of the Government was stationed along with the entirety of the Praetorians and Sisterhood.

Thus the population of the High Citadel decreased immensely to less than a hundred thousand that lived in a place that could fit a few million people. As the centuries passed the High Citadel would grow but mainly in a military aspect as more advanced weaponry or technology was finally made.

At the base of the mountains the population grew in every direction with the population rising to nearly twelve million strong, making it the second most populated region in Arcadia. With the province Argolis and its capital Clove being the largest populated section of the Kingdom with its eighteen million people in the eighty five hundred square kilometer region.

The aircraft started to drop its altitude but it wasn't landing anywhere near the Falias's airport, instead it headed towards a small plateau mountain on the southern side. There a military airfield had been built on it to augment the military presence of the Capital.

While it only had the second largest civilian population in the Kingdom, Nyseion held the largest amount of military personnel. Almost the entirety of the Arcadian 1st Army was billeted in the region; most of them in fact lived in the capital.

A number of Divisions were situated in smaller fortresses in the borders of the province. There was also has three dedicated Air Force Divisions, meaning nearly six hundred Avenger Strike Fighters and Lightnings defended the capital.

The walls themselves housed a number of Sabres, Serpents, Lancers and Earthshaker weapons platforms.

Then there was the High Citadel, which contained the strongest force if not numerically then definitely in quality soldiers.

Aside from a single veteran Army Division and crews that man the hundreds of weapon platforms there was the Sisterhood Sanctum. In addition there was enhanced Praetorian Legion numbering twenty thousand strong that alone could defend the High Citadel against a force three times its size.

Lastly were the unique individuals and machines that reside within the High Citadel. Yet despite all of these things, Alexander still felt the place was vulnerable.

Maybe it had to do with his training, to always look for a weakness or area to attack from. The aircraft landed with a jolt and slowly came to a stop. Alexander began collecting his materials from the table as the engines died down.

As he stood up, the Praetorians gathered their belongings, locking helmets into place as the flight crew stood by the exit. Alexander nodded to them as he crouched low to exit the aircraft, cool air wrapping around him as he stepped out.

There were several Telamon Transport planes on the tarmac, all of which were either loading or disembarking supplies or personnel.

"Alexander!" A loud voice called out and the High Lord of Arcadia turned towards the voice. To his right stood a large man in greyish blue armor with a fur lined coat that was draped around his armored shoulders and a stark white bread that covered his scarred face. A full contubernium stood passively behind him.

"Talbek! You old dog, I'm surprised to see you out here and what's this? Do I smell sobriety on top of all top." Alexander said as he walked over embracing the old warrior.

"You say that as if I can ever get drunk." The other man chuckled.

"Well to be fair you normally have such a strong stench of booze it gets everyone else drunk."

"Aye but it's funny so it's fine." Talbek guffawed as the two of them let go then turned northward together walking on the tarmac. The occasional technician or service member would bow as they passed by but most of them knew that the two of them would rather they focus on their tasks then paying respect to them.

"Say friend, why are you here? I thought you'd be in the north with MaRaul's 9th Corp?" Alexander asked.

"Aye that I was but when I heard that you were finally returning home from Sanus I had to come see you."

"I'm honored you feel that way friend."

"Though I also knew you'd want me to attend to the meetings later so I figured it would be best to do it in person than over a holofield."

"Fair enough, who else is here?"

"Aeyr arrived a few hours ago, Inias and Targatus are going over the potential candidates for the next class of Praetorians, Sanian's been here since Katherine arrived with her friend."

"How is she?"

"Well she already picked her replacements and underwent the surgery. Last I checked Arabella was running some simple drills for her to get accustomed to them." Talbek said his voice growing a little softer.

"It's a shame that happened to her at such a young age."

"I don't believe she would have been fine with losing an eye and a leg at any age but she's a fighter so I doubt it will bother her for long." Alexander said as they finally made it towards the airfield main structure. A large four story building that housed technicians, flight crew and was attached to several aircraft hangers. To their east Alexander could see a large control tower with three Hydra platforms circling it for protection.

Taking a brief glance around, he could see that the airfield had a number of weapon platforms protecting it. He spotted thirteen Hydra and eight Manticore platforms.

"Come on old man." Talbek called out and Alexander turned to see four Venators with a fifth modified Venator in the middle that had an open back for sitting in. The Praetorians were already seated in the four surrounding Venators.

"Any news about what's going on in the south?" Alexander asked as the two of them took their places in the back of the Venator. The vehicle dipped and groaned slightly as Talbek set his weight down making the two Praetorians cursed relatively quietly at not taking his weight into account.

Out of all the suits of armor they had, Talbek's was still relatively the same as the day he had first arrived to Remnant. Though there were a few minor changes that Alexander had forced such as removing any iconography on it along with slimming down the plates in some areas, but it was the most intact suit of power armor they had.

"The south huh? Are you really taking those reports from Elatria seriously?" Talbek asked as the Venator column started to move northward on the mountain road.

"I am and I think you should as well."

"Oh I am taking them serious about whose following them but the reports about a Forest One stirring isn't something I wish to be true."

"Whether or not we want them to be true is irrelevant we must take all potential threats seriously." Alexander said as they left the airfield.

"True but should we take them as a threat? The Forest Ones rarely ever made an effort to interfere with those they deemed beneath them."

"Not true, they're in a pact of their own and if what the reports suggest that means they can come into play at some point."

"Hmm, should we start sending troops south then? Galaven's got his Heavy Infantry Divisions from the 4th Army's doing some exercises down near Maurenton for the next few months." Talbek suggest but Alexander shook his head.

"I would suggest first having the 82nd and 83rd Armored Regiment from the 17th Division form up first then meet Galaven's Divisions before moving them south. But do not do it all at once, have the 82nd move first followed up by one of Galaven's Divisions before having the 83rd move in as well. When they're in position Galaven can push the rest of his Divisions to join them."

"Sounds like a plan."

"A plan I hope doesn't have to be tested, do we have any Air Force Divisions stationed near Elatria?" Alexander asked but Talbek shrugged.

"How am I supposed to know?" Alexander sighed as he ran hand through his hair.

"I suppose I should have known to ask someone with something useful to say."

"Ouch, such cruel words from my Lord but I suppose in your old age you've got more of a bark than a bite than anything else." Alexander smiled.

"I suppose we can always do a round of sparring in the dueling pits. I might even command Aeyr and Sanian to join you in order make it a fair fight." Talbek grimaced.

"Yea I enjoy a good fight as much as the next but I think I don't need to test that out." Alexander grinned as the Venators rounded a corner to see a two round stone towers with a large metal gate connecting them.

The towers and gate were large enough to block the entire path as a precaution to prevent invading forces from trying to go mean dropping several hundred feet of the near vertical path.

Alexander could see the barrels of two Serpent Infantry Guns poking out from gun ports on both towers and a Sabre platform on each one as well.

As they drove by, the soldiers guarding the post saluted the convoy as it drove unmolested from the usually tense security measures.

It wasn't long till the Venator Column started to head upward. Alexander and Talbek continued to discuss current events that were happening in Arcadia. New mines discovered in the west, the prospect of the storm season starting early in the north. The sighting of what was assumed was a Leviathan in the south eastern waters of Arcadia.

Along with a new influx of reports concerning about the increase of killings happening in Outland towns on Sanus and Anima over the last few months. Including what happened at Springmond Alexander made a mental note to start pooling his assets in fewer places like Avalon or Leflore instead of keeping them so spread out.

Soon enough they crested one last hill before coming into view of the High Citadel. With walls nearly thirty five meters high and eight meters thick along with an array of heavy weaponry on the ramparts it was an awe-inspiring sight.

The lead Venator slowed down as a few Praetorians stood out in front of a set of massive titanium doors. Etched onto the massive doors was the double crested symbol of the Kingdom.

It wasn't long till the doors opened with a groan, the Praetorians that guarded the gate kneeled as his Venator drove past them. He made sure to bow his head in respect to them, a leader that didn't acknowledge the work of those below him wasn't deserving of his position.

Inside the walls, large marbled buildings formed a wide square which had a large statue of a helmed warrior that held aloft a large sword. It was finely carved, showing details from the curve of the plates to the interlocking chainmail that went underneath it.

Surprisingly it wasn't meant to be him, instead the creator had come to him a few hundred years ago asking for the right to change the fountain that had originally been here to a statue of his predecessor. Not wanting to deny him that desire, he gave permission though he knew that it wouldn't actually look like him at all.

Before he had disappeared the Son had destroyed every piece of evidence of himself in their possession and by that point everyone that knew what he looked like save himself was dead.

So the artist had ended up just making up what he thought the Son would have looked like. Thus it became a well-crafted failed piece of art.

As he stepped off the Venator Alexander could see scribes, civil servants, workers, soldiers, warriors of the Sisterhood and the occasional Praetorian standing vigil on corner of streets.

Out from one street a procession came marching out of twenty Praetorians with none other than Arabella in the lead. His wife who despite wearing a beautiful green and gold dress that end at the knees looked tired. Many around her bowed or kneeled as the Lady of Arcadia moved passed them with swift determination.

"Is it done?" She asked bluntly as she got close to him.

"Nice to see you as well dear." Alexander said and Arabella rolled her eyes to which he laughed softly.

"Yes I got them."

"Why are you so happy? Katherine is hurt and the asshole responsible is still out there." Arabella hissed but Alexander stopped her as he put an arm around her.

"Breath my dearest, your choler is out of balance and you're not thinking straight and I'm not entirely happy as well but I would rather not show it in front of hundreds of other people." Arabella sighed as she glanced around the square, a number of people had stopped to look at them.

"Damn it, why do you always have to be right."

"Comes with the job I suppose."

"Maybe I should become High Lord." Arabella mused.

"You don't even like being on top so I doubt you would like the position." Alexander said and in the corner of his vision he could see a flash in Arabella's eyes.

"Well, that's different."

"Really now? I suppose we'll have to see." Alexander said softly and a mischievous smile grew on Arabella's face.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Talbek chimed in and the three of them laughed.

"Alright then, so how are the kids?" Alexander asked as the three of them headed towards the Great Keep, the center of the High Citadel and where Alexander's family lived.

"Mina has been a bit sulky since we took her from her shop but I assured her that I could get a new spot for her to open here in the Capital. Sepherina is taking it all well she's already talking to Head Mistress Highmore about getting a teaching position where Claire, Helena, Nessa and Miriya are going to start attending at the end of this month."

"And Katherine?" Arabella hesitated a little at that.

"She's been better, she's still trying to get used to her new leg and eye but frankly I fear more for the psychological damage. She's woken up screaming at least seven times, if we were still in Avalon it would be difficult for the others to hear her suffer. More often than not I'm finding myself and several Hospitallers taking care of her body and mind. Though I always suspect that once she is physically better she'll want to leave to the Four Kingdoms again."

"Has she said mentioned anything like that?" Alexander asked tilting his head a little to look at her but Arabella shook her head.

"No but there's an underlying anger or desire for revenge, I suspect it has to do with this team of hers."

"That's understandable, I know of more than a few lads over the years that would get reckless about avenging the death of their team or squad mates. That anger though can be used if we can temper it quickly and efficiently." Talbek noted.

"But I would rather have Katherine not experience that as more often than not those that seek vengeance also seek death." Arabella said with a heavy sigh.

"Then I suggest we don't let her leave Arcadia, if she wants to vent her anger I would suggest attaching her to Sisterhood Commandery or if you don't want to force her to stay in Arcadia then give her over to Lilith she's still wants to resume Operations on Sanus." Talbek said but before Alexander could reply he looked up the street to see a Praetorian with the markings of a Centurion on his helmet running up to them.

"Centurion?" Alexander asked as they immediately bowed at the waist.

"I'm sorry to disturb you my Lord but the Lord Commander requests a council meeting be put together immediately." Alexander traded looks with Arabella and Talbek.

"Did he give any specific reason why?" Arabella asked and the Praetorian nodded.

"Lieutenant General Sigrus is dead."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jaune was sitting in one of Beacon's courtyards reading his scroll. His mother had sent him a relatively detailed message saying how his sister had returned home after sustaining some injuries.

He frowned at the part where it said that Katherine was getting a new eye and leg. What had she gotten into that would require such surgeries?

Sighing he closed the scroll with a snap then stood up as he picked up his breast plate, the dent in the back from him hitting a tree from Initiation was still there. While normally he wouldn't have minded a small scratch or two on his armor this wasn't something he could ignore.

The dent he wanted to get worked on was far more annoying, as it dug into his back whenever he wore it plus it made the plate warped so that it didn't fit snuggly on him as before.

Thus Jaune had decided to go find the school's Armory and Blacksmith building. Turning a corner northward Jaune could see a single story building with multiple furnace vents coming out of it. The smell of smoke and sound of metal being hit could be heard.

Unsurprisingly the building had been detached from the main section of school grounds; no doubt in case a fire broke out.

Jaune walked up to what he assumed was the front door then pushed it open. A small wave of heat hit his face as he stepped inside.

A relatively small waiting room was arranged in front of him with three couches pushed up against one wall. While a few tables with chairs tucked in were situated on the other side, at the far end was a desk that had the word reception imprinted on the wood paneling.

"Uh, hello!?" Jaune called out as he reached the desk but no one responded but he swore he could hear someone hitting metal nearby. He looked down at the desk and saw a little switch with a little sticky note saying to press it so Jaune pressed it.

Someone started to scream and before Jaune could make a move a pale short girl with brown hair tied in a low braided ponytail came running out.

"Fucking hell Georgina would you stop…who the fuck are you?" The short girl asked as she crossed her arms. She wore a grey tank top which was drenched in sweat; however her crossed arms extenuated not only the muscles in her arms but her chest as well.

"Uh, I'm a student." Jaune said after coughing into his fist then looked towards the side.

"I can see that, what do you want though? Is it a noise complaint? No wait that can't be right, wait, did Goodwitch send you?"

"Uh, no?"

"Why don't you sound so sure? Are you lying or just stupid?" The girl hopped up on something behind the desk and looked down.

"Oh, you're a customer? Why didn't you say so?" She asked holding out her hands and Jaune sighed as he handed his breast plate over. She turned it over and ran a small hand along the dent then whistled.

"Damn son, what did you do? Let someone beat you with a stick till they could leave a dent in this?" She asked looking up at him and Jaune laughed nervously.

"Not quite, I got that dent during Initiation." She raised any eyebrow.

"You're a first year?" She asked and Jaune nodded.

"Well slap my ass and call me granny you must be either really lucky or unlucky to need this. Tell me, do you have smaller than average Aura?" She asked and for some reason Jaune felt self-conscious.

"I don't know I never really measured it." The girl nodded slowly.

"We're still talking about the same thing right?"

"Of course, what else would we be talking about?"

"Yup, we're still on the same page."

"I'm confused."

"Don't worry about it; anyways I'm guessing you want to get this fixed right?" She pointed at the long dent again.

"Yea, I'd really appreciate that." She set the breast plate aside then pulled a notebook out from under the table then opened it up.

"Let's see, I still have Hendricks Halberd and Janelle's handgun to do so today's and tomorrow is pretty busy but I can get it back to you about three days from now." She said looking up at him.

"Would it really need to take three days to fix? It's only a dent."

"I take it you didn't make this armor or any in particular since it's not that simple. Metal has a funny way of reacting when you try doing something wrong in fixing it. For instance I bet you thought that since it's a dent you can push pop it back in place. Well you're right and wrong in that account as this armor plate isn't supposed to be able to yield so easily but for most dents you can take a hammer to them. However there's follow up work that I have to do for instance depending on how the armor was made or intended to be used then I might actually have to heat the section with the dent in order to properly hammer it into place without stressing the metal around it by the unnatural shape it's taken. If I didn't take my time in considering how this is supposed to be done then next time you get hit there and you don't have Aura then it'll probably break in one hit, understand?" She explained and Jaune nodded slowly.

"Good, now give me your scroll." She held out her hand again and Jaune gave it to her. She slotted it into some machine and Jaune's information came up on a screen built into the surface of the desk.

"Interesting, says here you've already been to the hospital already as well."

"Is that interesting?"

"Yes cause it means I was right in suspecting you'd need this armor since you were held overnight for observation." The girl looked up at him.

"So your name is Jaune Arc?"

"Indeed I am so what's your name?"

"Oh yea I forget I'm supposed to start with that. Well, my name is Ilex Maron 3rd year and Leader of team METL. We also double as apprentice metalsmiths for the school cause you know someone needs to help keep the gear in top shape." She explained and Jaune nodded.

"Yea I get that, I already met a 3rd year medical student saying something along the same line."

"Well they ain't wrong, so anyways Jaune Arc I'll get this done for you and you don't have to worry about the cost since it's a simple job but if you want I can adjust it. Maybe make it larger since it looks like it'll be a tight fit on you." Jaune shook his head.

"No that's alright; I don't necessarily plan on having this armor for long."

"Eh?"

"Oh sorry, it's just that my old man gave me this armor and said that if I could make it my first year here then he'd fashion me a new suit of armor and my own weapon." Jaune explained and Ilex nodded slowly.

"Interesting, is he a smith as well?" Jaune shook his head.

"Nope he just likes making stuff in his own time." Ilex raised an eyebrow at that.

"I know that sounds strange." Jaune said and she nodded.

"Yea that is pretty strange."

"Well I guess I'll come back when you're done with my breast plate." Jaune said as he started to turn around.

"Actually I got a question." Ilex called out stopping him.

"Yea?"

"This is gonna sound strange but your last name is Arc, are you related to those Arcs?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on man, I mean the Arcs of Arcadia. Ya know the most secluded but powerful Kingdom on Remnant." Jaune smiled and laugh softly as he waved his hand dismissively.

"No way am I related to them, I guess it's just a coincidence."

"Yea well anyways, come back in a few days or I'll message you when your order is ready for pickup." Ilex said and Jaune waved goodbye as he left the building. As the door closed behind him Jaune let loose a loud exhale, he wasn't expecting the question at the end there. He looked over his shoulder at the building then started to walk away.

He passed by a few other students, some of whom looked at him. In passing he could hear those that took notice of him whisper about the apparently feud the he had with team CRDL.

Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice the girl that was standing with her back to him until he bumped into her. He stumbled to the side hoping to avoid falling on her as she stumbled forward herself.

"Crap." Jaune sighed as he looked towards her and was struck with a sense of familiarity. A bunny Faunus girl that he was pretty sure that he saw in Oobleck's class, he didn't recall her name but she had dropped her book. He bent down to pick it up, turning it over he could see that it was a book about the rise of the White Fang.

"Uh, my bad." Jaune said as he held the book out to her. He could see the look of suspicion that had been on her face quickly change into surprise.

"I'm sorry for getting in your way." She said with a slightly strange accent as she took the proffered book back.

"It's not a problem; it was my fault because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Its fine Jaune, I understand, we can both agree we're at equal fault." She said a tired smile on her face.

"Right, we're both at fault." Jaune said trailing off at the end.

"You don't know my name do you?" She asked and Jaune smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"My bad." She shrugged.

"That's fine; I shouldn't expect everyone to know my name especially since we never talked. Anyways, my name is Velvet Scarlatina." Jaune held out his hand and could see the brief flash of hesitation before she took it.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Velvet." He said with a smile on his face and Velvet gave a tentative smile in return.

"Why if it isn't little Jauney and what's this? A pet animal? On congrats Jaune, tell me when do you give it food and water?" A sarcastic voice asked from nearby and Jaune turned to see Dove and Sky standing nearby.

"Ignore them Velvet." Jaune said as he narrowed his eyes at them then looked back at her. He was surprised however to see her practically shrinking in their presences. He looked up to see her ears lowered as if in fear.

"Alright I think you guys should leave and go do something else. Like finding a nice quiet corner to suck each other off, I know you two want to practice for your daddy Cardin." Dove scrunched up his face in anger as Sky stepped forward. If looks could kill then Jaune would probably be lying in a pool of his own blood at that point.

"That's funny coming from a faggot like you, so what are you gonna do? Fuck this animal? I wouldn't be surprised if you were into bestiality."

"I guess you would have experience in such department watching your whore of a mother be a bicycle for the neighborhood dogs from whatever shithole you crawled out of. So why don't you do me the favor of getting that ugly face that only your cum covered mother would love out of here." Sky stepped closer to him but Jaune had a few inches on the teen.

"Watch yourself Arc, you one of these days you might regret it." He growled and Jaune waved a hand in front of his face.

"Phew, man what kind of bullshit have you been eating?"

"Fuck off." He said shoving Jaune back and he had been waiting for that. Thus the only thing the smaller teen was able to achieve was that he pushed himself back.

"Come on Sky; let's leave the animal fucker alone with his girlfriend." Dove said dragging the blue hair teen back. Jaune waved as Sky flipped him off before the two teens walked around a corner and out of sight.

"Man, what a bunch of assholes." Jaune muttered before turning around. Velvet had her eyes closed, her hands clenched and she trembled all over.

"Are you alright?" Jaune asked softly.

"You shouldn't have done that." She whispered and Jaune furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why wouldn't I? They're assholes and they weren't exactly being kind to you as well."

"I know but I'm used to it but now they're going to target you or turn others against you." Jaune chuckled and Velvet looked up at him confused.

"Velvet we may not know each other but let me just say this, I'd rather have you as my only friend than a thousand people like them." She blinked a few times at that and Jaune just chuckled again as he stretched his arms over his head.

"Besides that, I'm already on bad terms with those guys."

"Really? How come?"

"Believe it or not but it's because I don't hate Faunus which seriously ticked them off. In fact I bet if you go around asking the occasional first year you'll find that we've been having some beef as of late but don't let it worry you." Jaune said as he started to walk away.

"I'll see ya around Velvet!" He called out as he waved a hand over his shoulder. Velvet waved a little as well before lowering her hand watching him disappear from sight.

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

Jaune was sitting at the usual spot in the cafeteria with his team and surprisingly team RWBY as well. Though there was still a little bit of tension between him and them though at this point he didn't understand why.

"So Jaune, I heard an interesting rumor last night." Yang said turning to look at him.

"Rumor?" Jaune repeated raising an eyebrow as he sipped on a glass of water.

"Yup but between you and me I doubt that it has any merit to it."

"Then why bring it up?" Weiss asked to which Jaune nodded as well.

"The thing about this rumor though says you and a girl were getting it on behind some bushes." Yang said as a wolfish smile spread across her face. Everyone turned to look at Jaune now, though Pyrrha surprisingly had the biggest reaction by choking then spitting out her drink.

"Is she telling the truth Jaune?!" His partner asked eyeing him intensely.

"To be fair Pyrrha I'm pretty sure it's just slander since the rumor also said that the girl was charging for sex as well." Yang butted in.

"Who comes up with this stuff?" Weiss asked with an obvious look of disgust on her face and Yang shrugged.

"People are people, there's no way you cannot expect something like this to happen at some point in time."

"So you didn't actually diddle anyone?" Nora asked looking towards the tall teen.

"No Nora, I didn't diddle anyone and what does that even mean?" Nora opened her mouth but Jaune held up a hand stopping her.

"You know what, never mind, don't tell me." Any further conversation was interrupted by loud laughter. The two teams turned to see a not so pleasant sight; team CRDL was harassing a Faunus girl. Jaune felt a wave of anger pass over him as he recognized the girl.

It was Velvet.

He didn't know how it happened but the effect was clear enough. The young Faunus girl was trying to get Cardin to let go of her ear as he ridiculed her. Jaune looked around the cafeteria and could see a few people starring with undisguised contempt but Jaune couldn't be sure who it was actually directed too.

"Despicable." Pyrrha was the first to speak up. Jaune couldn't help but feel a similar sentiment and was thankful that Cardin finally let her go. As she walked away she passed by their table though she was covering one side of her face with her hand as she looked down.

"Velvet!" He called out standing abruptly the table shifted forward violently. The Faunus girl however didn't react or even look in his direction as she left the cafeteria through a side door.

"Do you know her?" Ruby asked as Jaune sat down and pulled the table towards him straightening it out again.

"That was her, the girl in the rumor that you heard Yang. She and I ran into Dove and Sky where they said some unsavory things about her Faunus nature." Yang scowled at that and shuddered.

"Ew, I repeated a filthy lie from one of those jerks."

"Actually now that I think about it you never told us why they started hating you." Ruby asked and Jaune shrugged.

"There's not much to it, I went over to apologize then we had a disagreement on something so they hate me now." Jaune said casually and Weiss narrowed her eyes at that.

"Wait, so they accepted the apology? Then what happened?" They looked towards him and Pyrrha could see him hesitate to answer.

"Jaune you can tell us, we're your friends aren't we?" Ruby pressed and he took a deep breath before looking around.

"Alright then, I'll tell you what happened." Thus Jaune detailed the event that led to the current hatred between him and team CRDL. When he was done, he looked around to see the looks of surprised if not disdainful looks on everyone's faces.

"That really is atrocious." Pyrrha said throwing a contemptuous look towards team CRDL as they continued laughing obnoxiously at the far side of the cafeteria.

"They're not the only ones, I saw more than a few that looked like they agree with their actions earlier." Blake said narrowing her eyes as well.

"I have to say it's a bit strange that they would let people like them into this Academy." Ren pointed out and Nora stood up flexing her arms.

"We can break their legs!" She shouted and Yang grinned as she cracked her knuckles.

"I'm so not going to go easy on them in combat class." Blake snorted at that.

"There's always going to be scum like them around." Ruby frowned.

"Should we tell the instructors? Surely they would do something about it." Blake shook her head.

"I doubt it, if they thought they wouldn't get away with such behavior than they wouldn't do it in the first place." Ruby looked down.

"Then we should do something about it, if we tell Cardin what he's doing is wrong then his team can change." Jaune shook his head at that.

"That's not going to happen; some people just can't change with words alone. This is one of the reasons why the White Fang became what it is, the stubbornness of a few make the rest look bad." Blake looked at him.

"I wouldn't say a few; people as a whole are to blame." Weiss looked at Blake, annoyance creeping onto her face.

"That's not exactly fair is it? Why should we be condemned for their actions?"

"Weiss, I think she's saying in a general perspective. People who don't do anything when an obvious injustice that's happening in front of them essentially equal in blame as those that commit the injustice in the first place." Yang chimed in.

"Hmm, interesting, then what is it that you don't like about Arcadia? They stepped in on behalf of the Faunus during the Faunus Rights Revolution and fought against Mantle and Mistral during the Great War." Ren asked looking around the table but specifically at Blake, Jaune felt a slight twitch of annoyance pass over his face but he didn't say anything.

"I think they did it out of convenience." Blake said curtly.

"That's pretty bold of you to say." Ren replied calmly.

"I just don't get what's the big deal about them and in fact I don't get why you're always interested in being on their side." Blake replied and Jaune swore he could see Ren glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I can say the same about you, you speak as if they're the reason why things are the way they are."

"And I'm right; they only joined the fight against Mantle and Mistral because the two Kingdoms declared war against them while Vale and Vacuo sued for peace. Before that though they attacked all the Kingdoms without discrimination including towns that none of the Kingdoms had ties to in the Outlands. The only thing they asked for at the end of the war was for the Four Kingdoms to leave them alone which they did but then during the Faunus Right Revolution they barged in attacking the Four Kingdoms as if they wanted to help the Faunus but we all know they were just doing it to strike at the Four Kingdoms not to help the Faunus. Which I've already pointed out before today, they didn't even try taking in any of the thousands of refugees into their Kingdom." Blake said as she stared down Ren.

"To be fair to them, they didn't exactly have a choice in fighting at the start of the Great War. Vale and Mantle would fight multiple skirmishes close to their apparent border. Mantle even went so far as to try attacking one of their coastal cities after stumbling upon it. Then when Arcadia did go to war all of the Four Kingdoms were against them and each time one of them tried facing them on the battlefield they lost. The only reason why they didn't continue fighting everyone was because Vale sought to bring peace between them to avoid fighting three opponents. So Mantle attacked them in hopes of forcing them to either join them or not take sides at all. Arcadia still ended up signing the ceasefire with Vacuo and Vale before they went after Mantle and Mistral alone. What you also seem to also forget is the fact that Arcadia also put in a serious effort in protecting a number of Outland towns and villages as the Grimm started to grow even more violent with the Great War's progression. When the Great War ended all they wanted was to be at peace with the Four Kingdoms and be left alone especially since they had nothing to do with the cause of it in the first place. Now to address your second point about the Faunus Rights Revolution from where I'm standing I see it as a morally right action they took in fighting against the Four Kingdoms. In fact if they hadn't beaten the Four Kingdoms so badly, killing most of their experienced soldiers and officers, then someone smarter than General Lagune would have been in charge at the battle of Fort Castle." Ren said crossing his arms as he stared down Blake as well; Ruby leaned over the table to Jaune.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard him talk." Jaune couldn't help but nod as well.

"Sadly it couldn't be on a better topic." Jaune replied.

"As for the aftermath of the Faunus Rights Revolution, it wasn't their cause to take the lead on. If the Faunus wanted to be taken serious they would have had to negotiate the end on their own. As for the tens of thousands of Faunus Refugees, what do you expect them to do? Go around gather everyone that was displaced than take them to their Kingdom? That would have been foolhardy and a logistical burden that no Kingdom can deal with. Not to mention they didn't have any obligation to take these people, who already have been driven from their homes, to a new land and people they have no connection with. Demanding that they take all of those people is in my view, pretty selfish." Ren continued but Blake wasn't one to back down.

"So you're saying that they're right in not doing anything to help the displaced Faunus? If they won't take them to Arcadia or help them in the Four Kingdoms then what else is left for them? It's a Kingdom's duty to help the suffering people as much as it can."

"Yes it's a Kingdom's duty to help its citizens but like I said they're under no obligation to help those in the stead of those that should be making amends in the first place. Why should Arcadia be responsible for dealing with the mess that Four Kingdoms made? Besides that I'm pretty sure Arcadia has done a number of things that has helped the Faunus in the Outlands. Nora and I came upon a town that was not only helped built by Arcadia but is also guarded by their army." Jaune looked at Rens surprised to hear this.

"Whoa, really? What was it like?" Yang asked leaning forward, Ren and Nora exchanged glances.

"Well what I can remember is that it was a pretty lively place and pretty big. How many people were supposed to be there again?" Nora asked looking towards Ren.

"I believe they said the population of the town was near twenty five thousand." Ren said and Yang whistled.

"That's actually a lot for an Outland town, where was this?"

"I believe it's in the far north, maybe an hour's walk at most from the coast of the Atlas Sea." Ren said.

"Well as much as I want to sit here and listen to you two beat this dead horse for like the trillionth time, I think I'm gonna go hit the school library and study." Jaune said as he stood up, Pyrrha looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Really?" She asked and Jaune snorted.

"Nope."

"You should really study; you're starting to fall behind in Dust class." Pyrrha said and Jaune shrugged.

"I'm not doing that bad besides that I don't even use Dust so I don't necessarily need to be an expert on it."

"I don't think so, if you continue slacking off in studying it's going to come back to haunt you but the one doing the haunting will probably be Professor Goodwitch." Pyrrha said as she stood up as well.

"So I'm going to help you catch up to the rest of us." She said and Jaune frowned.

"That's not necessary."

"Listen to her Arc; we've got an exam on the theory and practicality of Secondary Dust Combinations this Friday. Plus between you and me you're kind of an idiot." Weiss said as she folded a paper napkin.

"That wasn't really between the two of us." Jaune pointed out and the white hair girl shrugged.

"Meh, close enough."

"Wait, when is the test again?" Ruby asked looking at Weiss.

"Ruby, you've been studying right?" Weiss said narrowing her eyes at the younger girl.

"Uh, yes?"

"Why'd you say that as if you don't know the answer? Ruby Rose, I swear if you haven't been studying then I'm going to make you sit and read the entire chapter until you have it memorized." Jaune chuckled at the dismay on the young girl's face before waving goodbye to the others. Pyrrha followed him with her own tray in hand as they put them away.

"So what's up with those two?" Yang asked as she watched them leave the cafeteria.

"What do you mean?" Nora asked.

"You know, Pyrrha and Jaune seem to spend a lot of time together."

"But Yang they're partners so why wouldn't they hangout a lot?" Ruby asked but Yang shook her head.

"You just don't get it little sis, there's something more than to this than what meets the eye." Yang explained but Ruby just cocked her head to the side.

"Yea, I still don't get it." Weiss sighed.

"She's trying to figure out if they like it each." Ruby snorted.

"They're friends; of course they like each other."

"No Ruby, like as in really like." Nora said before turning around then wrapping her arms around herself as she proceeded to make kissing noises.

"Oh. Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, I get it." Ruby said.

"Do you really?" Yang asked and the young reaper nodded slowly.

"We're gonna have to talk about that after Weiss is done with you."

"Crap."

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Jaune was sitting on the edge of his bed, for some reason he didn't feel like sleeping. For some reason he couldn't help but think back to the conversation between Ren and Blake.

He didn't understand why Ren was so vehemently defending Arcadia. Was he just doing it because no one else will or was there something else?

If Jaune had to guess then Ren and Nora really did come across an Arcadian backed town in the Outlands but he said it was to the north. Jaune didn't recall the name but he did know that was supposed to be one or two Arcadian backed towns in northern Sanus.

One was a fishing town and the other a mining town. If he had to guess than it would probably be the fishing town as Ren specifically mentioned the Atlas Sea. At the same time he couldn't help but realize that he didn't really know anything about him or Nora.

He knew they weren't related but they never really explained how they knew each other aside from meeting at a young age. Now that he thought about it, he still didn't know Pyrrha that well also.

Maybe they should go out somewhere to talk and get to know each better. He couldn't do it in the dorm as it seemed right nor could he do it anywhere else on Beacon grounds as well.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hm, what?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just thinking." Pyrrha seemed to hesitate before she sat down on his bed next to her.

"What's on your mind?"

"I was just thinking about the fact that I don't really know any of you guys." Pyrrha smiled at that.

"Jaune we'll be together for four years, I think that will give you plenty of time to know us."

"Really? I feel like I should be doing more to try understanding you all." Pyrrha smiled as she shook her head.

"Its fine, just, give them some time to open up." He sighed before looking at her, he smiled a little.

"Thanks Pyrrha." She nodded.

"So are you going to sleep now?" He shook his head.

"Nah, I feel like taking a walk if anything."

"But it's dark out." She pointed out but Jaune shrugged.

"I don't mind." She seemed to think a little before smiling as she stood up then extended her hand out to him.

"I have something I need to show you."

* * *

 **5 Minutes Later…**

Jaune followed Pyrrha up a brief flight of stairs where she pushed open a door. As he stepped through the doorway he could see that they were outside, it was the rooftop.

Looking around he could see most of Beacon Academy, which was illuminated by the shattered moon that was high in the sky. To the west he could see the light pollution of Vale making it difficult to see the stars above it.

As for Beacon however, a lot of stars were still mostly visible. A cool wind washed over him and Jaune closed his eyes and enjoyed the air that enveloped him along with the not so silent night. The crickets chirped and he could hear the rustle of the trees below.

"This is nice." He said softly as he opened his eyes, in front of him was Pyrrha who had her hands clasped behind her back. The gentle wind blew her hair to the side and beyond her Beacon tower was lighted up by the moon.

She looked back at him and Jaune couldn't help but stare as if mesmerized by the scene as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"So what do you think?" She asked and Jaune coughed loudly into his fist to buy himself time.

"The view is amazing honestly, how did you find this spot?" He asked as he walked up beside her.

"Ah you know it's just one of those things that happen when you're exploring." She said and he couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious at how close he was to her.

He would be lying if he said that he didn't find it a little distracting that he was almost constantly surrounded by attractive girls. In Jaune's opinion Pyrrha is one, if not, the most attractive amongst them.

Yang had an outright general attractive appeal, she was friendly, had a great face with an enticing smile when she wanted to use it and of course there were the assets. For most guys and probably even a few girls she would be the proverbial wet dream.

On the opposite scale, Weiss had a more regal if not refined appeal to her. The kind one would expect at a high end party or event where the richest if not most powerful people would go to mingle.

Blake had an air of mystery to her, for some he could see that curiosity being something that they want to explore. She wasn't bad looking as well; the first thing he can think of was that her eyes had an interesting appeal to them.

As for Nora and Ruby he didn't really think much of them. As Nora seemed to be clearly interested in Ren and Ruby was far too young for his taste. Plus he was pretty sure Yang would separate his manhood from his body with her bare hand.

Pyrrha, she was different. There was just something about her that felt like he was being pulled towards her. She was kind, understanding, patient and was willing to help those even when she didn't have too.

Of course she was also physically beautiful, he never spoke it aloud but whenever they went to the gym together he always found himself staring at her well-toned body. Her movements always seemed graceful but full of energy that was carefully contained then used as she moved.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked and he shook his head before focusing on her again.

"Huh, what?"

"You've been spacing out a lot lately, anything you have on your mind?" She asked her emerald green eyes focusing on him.

"It's nothing to worry about; I guess I'm a little homesick." Jaune said as he forced himself to look away.

"Oh." Pyrrha said as they continued to stand on the rooftop.

"So, you said you came from an Outland village. Right?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yea, it's about an hour's flight south of Vale's marked territory."

"What's it called?"

"Avalon."

"Avalon? That's an interesting name."

"Is it?"

"Yea, it really is, kind of reminds me of a story my mother used to tell me." Jaune quirked an eyebrow as he looked at her.

"What kind of story?"

"It's not a kid's story if that's what you're thinking." Pyrrha said as she sat down on the ledge of the rooftop, Jaune followed suit but he couldn't help but get a brief flash of panic as he imagined falling off.

"Oh, no I wasn't."

"Right."

"Well, then can you tell it to me?" Pyrrha looked at him.

"Really?" He shrugged.

"Why not, I don't have anywhere else to be."

"Coincidentally, I don't have anywhere else I would like to be either." Pyrrha took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

"It's an old story; one my mother says that most people today have forgotten. It's a story about a brave Warrior King that led a Kingdom of Light against the Grimm in a long forgotten age." Jaune felt a cold sweat break out on him as he listened.

"When Man and Faunus first started building civilization the Grimm which had always been an unnatural empty void that seemed to have been existing as far as anyone could remember had finally started gathering in numbers that none of us today could even fathom. The old Kingdoms would band together occasionally in temporary alliances to fight off the Grimm. However most of the alliances that won would dissolve as Corruption took root in their heart as such the Kingdoms or nations fought each other for power. That is all but one Kingdom which lay in the northern regions of Sanus. This Kingdom which had crowned a new King after the old benevolent King died would set forth a new example. This new King would gather his army and marched south to help those that fight against the Grimm. However he saw the greed and corrupted nature of men's hearts. As such he swore to fight for the Light but never to ally himself with those that he helped as they would simply try to use him. As his exploits travelled across the land villages, towns and even whole armies would desert to find and join under his banner. As his Kingdom grew so did its wealth and strength. Soon the Kingdom was the bulwark of life, fighting the battles that others could not. Alas time soon began to take its toll as the ever present Grimm threat never relented no matter how many times the Kingdom beat them in the field. Other Kingdoms and nations which were too far for receiving aid would crumble under the war path of the Grimm or by the sheer thought of the Grimm coming would make people turn on each other for the chance to hold onto power till the very end. As such the Warrior King decided to start searching for a new land to safeguard his people, however even the people of his Kingdom weren't immune to the Corruption. One of the Warrior King's Lords decided to seize power for himself as such he would make a pact with powers even darker and more powerful than the Grimm. In doing so he sacrificed his soul for great power thus bringing death and destruction to the Kingdom. The Warrior King fought a desperate defense in his castle until the remaining citizens were put aboard ships for them to flee on. Even when the Warrior King was wounded and tired he would still make sure that he was the last to board those ships as he watched his Kingdom burn to cinders. After sailing for weeks they finally landed found a coastal city that they had been using to settle a new land. There the Warrior King would be consumed by grief, in that grief he decided to step down as King instead crowning his most trust advisor and general in his place. Once the coronation was complete the Warrior King, now known simply as the Warrior would travel this mysterious land. It's there that he meets the Elder Race where he teams up with them to fight the Ruler of Darkness that control the Grimm, so he sets off with the most experienced warriors of the Elder Race along with even the Ancient Forest Dragon Nantosuelta and its four children. No one ever saw him ever again; the only one to return was Nantosuelta who was near death as well. Alas his legacy will never be forgotten as his Kingdom would always remain to carry on his work as the shield of civilization." Pyrrha said before looking at him.

"So?" She asked.

"So." Jaune echoed.

"I mean what did you think of it? I didn't really tell it in full detail but that's the general gist of it."

"Well it's pretty interesting so I can see why you like it but I have a question."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did your mother ever tell you where she heard this from also or did she ever mention the name of the Kingdom or this Warrior King?" Pyrrha tilted her head a little at that.

"Well she said she heard it from her mother and as for the names I know the tale never mentions the Warrior King's name but the Kingdom. Well, I don't remember actually. I'll ask my mother though." Jaune nodded as he looked out into the darkness. He hadn't expected to hear a story like that, especially one so similar to what his father used to tell him as a kid when he was growing up. Sure he was surprised with the ending part with the whole dragon bit but it was almost eerily the same.

"I guess we should head back inside now." Pyrrha said as she stood up.

"Yea, it's pretty late I suppose." Jaune said as he stood up to follow her back inside. He had a feeling that this was going to be coming up again soon.

Pyrrha however was glad that she had left first as she didn't want Jaune to see her face as it was no doubt trouble at what she had done. While she didn't recall her mother ever telling her the name of the Warrior King, she did mention two other important names.

The first was the fact that the Kingdom in the story was in fact Arcadia.

The second and most important name however was the trusted individual who the Warrior King gave his crown to. His name had been Aléxandros Arc.

Which also happened to be Jaune's last name as well, she had a feeling that it wasn't a coincidence.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Alexander was sitting on his throne in the council chambers of the High Citadel. Around him were seated the most powerful individuals of Arcadia.

There was Azariah Griffin, the fresh faced Faunus that was the Civitas Administrator who was in charge of the economic and civil duties of the Kingdom.

Next to him was the weathered face of Lord Justicar Narin Cross in charge of the Judges and Obligators that maintain law within the Kingdom.

Then there was Forge Master Eumetrios Rosenstock, the one behind the manufacturing and technological strength of Arcadia. Supplying everything from paper used in school books to sixteen inch shells of his Flagship Aeterna Virtus.

There was also the Lord Commander of the Army Ulrich Thade, High Admiral Jürgen Heth of the Navy, along with the General Kelsar Tala of the Air force.

He looked to his immediate right, Arabella stood in the white and red robes of the Sisterhood with Sanian sitting next to her. On his left was Legatus Targatus Vidus of the Praetorian Legion, his position on the council was more of a symbolic gesture as he truly only ever answered to Alexander.

Next to him were Talbek Stonefang, Interrogator-Chaplin Zophiel Inias, and the Champion Aeyr Forianus. Aeyr's spot was another gesture as the man had no position other than his Champion.

Lastly were Lilith and Variel who both ran the Arcadian Intelligence Agency. Some had reserved feelings about Variel but Alexander had more than a few dealings with his kind.

"Let's run through what's happened so far, Ulrich?" Alexander asked looking at the Lord Commander of his armies and the older man nodded his head.

"Two days ago at roughly 0900 the forces of the Ruinous Powers invaded Irkalla. Lieutenant General Sigrus of the 12th Corp was immediately engaged right in the center of his defensive line. The enemies comprised of a mixed batch of warriors in plate armor with melee weaponry to what we assumed are traitor soldiers either from our Kingdom or ones from where you originate from. This force took Sigrus by surprise as there was no warning in an emergence of a storm like before. As in the first few hours Sigrus's headquarters was stormed and he's confirmed dead by the few stragglers of his 56th Division. Major General Avagisa attached herself to the 57th then immediately took command but the rest of the line was soon engaged but with the center collapsed she decided to abandon the frontline and pull back the rest of the 12th Corp about a day and a half north of Helvisk where she set the 59th Division up with the remaining units of the 56th while heading with the 58th eastward to engage the large formations of enemy infantry that are advancing on the Delvesk Wetlands. The 60th Division was tasked with protecting the western flank in the Irkalla Lowlands." Ulrich began as he brought up a holofield depicting the besieged province. The Arcadian Army units were depicted as blue circles in the center while the enemy was red. The largest blue dots represented Divisions while smaller blue dots were regiments, judging by what he saw he could see that the 59th was the only Division strength force as the 12th Corp was either taken a beating or were thoroughly spread out in attempt to maintain a defensive line. Aeyr leaned forward clasping his gauntleted hands together.

"What's the enemy overall strength?" He asked and Ulrich shook his head.

It's a rough guess sir, we suspect at least fifty thousand from the initial reports coming from Avagisa but I suspect it to be a lot larger considering they hit all along the 12th Corp's main lines after collapsing the center. Yesterday at roughly 0600 we learned that the northern Forts protecting the eastern lowlands were all razed. Assessment from a Flight of Avenger Strike Fighters showed that it was the Warriors in plate were the ones responsible for that. Initial examination shows they've are amassed at least twenty thousand strong."

"How are these Chaos Warriors able to pull that off? They don't have bolters or any other long range sophisticated weaponry." Kelsar pointed out.

"True but they do have some sort of artillery cannon, spotters have seen them. Oddly constructed devices that glow with whatever twisted power that was put into them. Even when fired they don't sound like normal weapons as I've read that the shots literally scream as they're fired. Not to mention their power is strengthened by their infernal magic."

"Kelsar's point still stands, if that's the case then they're still just using melee weapons and have armor plates. Shouldn't we be able to hold them off easier then?" Jürgen asked looking around.

"Any other opponent I would say that you have a point but the first time I faced them they were able to break the Grimm attack while charging into the Sisterhood formation with me without even flinching at what the bolt rounds did to them." Alexander said before gesturing at the holofield.

"I imagine that they'll fight us until one of us is completely broken. Besides that what else can you tell us about these, infantry, that Avagisa is facing in the east Ulrich?" Alexander asked looking back at the man who zoomed in where the wetlands he mentioned were.

The holofield zoomed in depicting the Arcadian defenders in combat with the forces in red. Alexander could see a number of Line Infantry regiments were arrayed in a shallow line, no doubt reinforcing their positions. While Armor and Heavy Infantry regiments struck out against the numerous red blobs.

"It seems that these Corrupted Battalions or Regiments are well organized despite their allegiances. They use older model tanks and cheap solid shot weapons similar to our own. However there are two advantages that I see we can give them for now. One is we don't know how many there are, for now we have to assume they alone are equal in size to the entire 12th Corp. The second is their Ruinous assistance, while we haven't got a solid lock on how many there actually are we can confirm the sighting of a few Chaos Marines." Alexander could feel the unease at that coming from Arabella, Sanian, Talbek, Inias and Aeyr.

"If we're not careful they might try using the Ancient Ones in the White Peaks." Kelsar pointed out.

"I doubt it; the Ancient Ones hate them as much if not more than us." Talbek said.

"Though that isn't something we can rule out with the Daemonic Ones, if enough happens they might draw their attention then bring them over to their cause." Inias said softly.

"Do we know if any of the Greater Daemons are there, maybe even leading them?" Sanian asked looking at Talbek but the old warrior shook his head.

"We would know if that's the case, if the Ancient Ones or the Greater Daemons arrived then it would be obvious in the destruction."

"How have the Grimm responded?" Arabella asked turning the topic away from those thoughts.

"They have indeed gotten riled up, several skirmishes have broken out on the borders of the Sharlor Province along with an armor fight in the Argus Province where three Armored Companies faced off against a herd of Goliaths and Death Stalkers but were able to fight them off." Alexander nodded.

"What's the status of MaRaul's 9th Corp?" He asked and Ulrich pulled out a data slate before tapping on it.

"MaRaul's already split up his Corp, the 42nd and 43rd Division are to make their way towards the Lowlands while the 41st and 44th heads to the wetlands to help contain the advancement of the enemy infantry. The 45th however will meet up with the 59th Division to help protect the highways leading south towards Helvisk. I've also taken the liberty to have the Graves 10th Corp strengthen our positions in the Sharlor, Argus and Lemavi Provinces. Lamberts 745th Heavy Infantry along with the 746th and 747th Armored will also reach the southern border of Irkalla within two days." Ulrich said and Alexander nodded then looked at the Legate of his Praetorians

"In addition to what Ulrich has put out, Targatus I want you to pick three Centuriae to head north with, Aeyr you'll accompany them. Arabella, Sanian I suppose you can drum up something to head north as well." Sanian nodded.

"I'll take Canoness Preceptor Palena's 7th and Sabisma's 8th Preceptories. We'll be ready to move in twelve hours maybe a day tops." Sanian said and Alexander nodded before looking at Kelsar.

"What do you have in play right now?"

"I've got a Wing of Corsairs already running multiple bombing runs every hour with another Wing being prepped to fly over towards the Helvisk airfield to join in. I've also got the an entire Division of Avenger Strike Fighters running Close Air Support missions. I'm keeping the Lightning Division grounded for the time being as the Enemy doesn't seem to have anything to challenge our Air Superiority."

"Rosenstock, Narin, Griffin? Anything you want to chip in on this?" Alexander asked but the Civitas Administrator shook his head.

"There's nothing I need to know for the time being nor am I aware of what I can do to help." He said.

"Actually you can inform the public about what's going on, they need to be aware that something is happening but make sure to spin it that we're beating them back. Monitor for reactions, I'll have my staff contact you in how we can make sure nothing unexpected crops up here." Lilith chimed in for the first time of this meeting.

"I'll increase patrols in the streets in case there is sign of unrest or treacherous schemes to take advantage of the situation." Narin spoke up.

"As for I, High Lord, ask anything of me and I shall see to it that it's complete in a timely order." Rosenstock rasped, his voice distorted by mechanical sounds, to which Alexander nodded his thanks.

"I have no doubt in mind that the Army will need your machines to help repair our positions during and after this fight. Make no mistakes my friends we must beat back this foe, not only for the good of the Arcadian people but for around the world as well. I'll issue deployment orders in one and a half weeks for the entire 2nd Army Group to move north if we're unable to shake the foothold of the Ruinous Powers." In the meantime I'll deploy the 3rd Field Army in the northern sections of Nyseion with orders to advance into Irkalla if the Enemy manages to break our lines again. Are we all in agreement?" Alexander asked looking around the table and everyone nodded or didn't say anything contrary to what he said.

"Now then I believe you have something rather important to discuss with us as well Lilith." Lilith and Variel straightened up as he directed the table's attention to them.

"Yes sir, you tasked us to monitor the Four Kingdoms and Outlands the best we can. Admittedly it's been a difficult task as there are only so many of us and the Outlands are a dangerous place with villages and towns popping up or being destroyed almost at random." Lilith began saying but Alexander held up a hand.

"I understand that your task is not an easy one, as you just heard a few moments ago we're in the midst of a military conflict in our northern region. Thousands are dead and many more I imagine will die as well, I move men and machines in their thousands while keeping an eye on the wellbeing of my people as I fight the forces of the Ruinous Powers. On top of that I must maintain a balance in the world in order to prevent any disaster that would put my people at risk as such I must police those that wish not to be policed by an outsider and I do this while still trying to be a respectable father figure. Alas I did not wish to hear your problems at the moment but the result from which your hard work has achieved." Alexander said with a hint of cold intent in his voice.

"Now carry on."

"Very well, after the incident in Springmond we double down our efforts in the Vale Underworld and we found nothing."

"Nothing?" Inias asked.

"Indeed which is what got us concerned then after, persuading, some individuals who we found trying to book passage on a ship heading to Vacuo we learned why. Roman Torchwick. It seems he's been making big and I mean very big waves. Killing rival crews or forcing others to fold into his operations of which we're still not sure what the point of this all was other than trying to damage the economy of Vale with all the Dust shops and shipments he's attacked. With that being said we were able to get some information on a crew that he had sent out to collect for him. What they said was that they had to gather a shipment from the southeast of Schnee mining equipment such as tools, heavy lifters, and explosives." Alexander stiffened as he realized what she meant.

"Interesting, are you saying that Roman might have something to do with the Neverborn in Springmond?" Lilith nodded.

"I believe he's either had a hand directly in it or he's working with someone powerful that's backing his power play to control Vale's Underworld. This is why I believe we should resume Operations in Vale as something big is going on there as rumors have it that he's also gotten the ear of the White Fang which can help him and his backer expands to the rest of the Kingdoms."

"So then what can we do?" Azariah asked and Lilith shrugged.

"I suggest we approach the Huntsmen Academies to garner support from them." Jürgen snorted at that.

"They're just as foolish as the Councils of the Four Kingdoms, the only one I can think of that would support us off the bat would be Belladonna of Menagerie. At least he's trusty worthy."

"And beyond that he's useless." Lilith countered.

"Heth's right Lilith, Belladonna can at least start us on the more public path along with opening dialogue with at least Vale." Ulrich pointed out.

"Maybe but that'll immediately put us on the shit list for Atlas." Variel pointed out

"To be fair, we're already on the shit list with Atlas. They're not exactly forgiving to what we did to their predecessor." Jürgen said.

"If you asked me, that's ridiculous of them. If it wasn't for us they would have never gotten that shiny new Kingdom of theirs out of that hot mess if we hadn't planted a blade in Mantle's rotted skull." Talbek said as he munched on piece of meat which Alexander was unsure of where he had even gotten it from.

"Regardless of that, let's say we do go to someone in the Four Kingdoms, who can we go to that won't dismiss us straight out?" Alexander asked cutting off the conversation, Lilith shrugged.

"Honestly our best option would be Ozpin, I know you don't trust him but there's no one else we can go to. We don't know anything about Vacuo or its Headmaster other than indifference to us and would take far more time than necessary to convince in allowing us to do what we should. Mistral and Lionheart would want nothing to do with us and would support Ironwood in his whatever decision he makes. Which we've already established would mean we get nowhere." Lilith explained.

"We could go to the Vale Council instead, I'm pretty sure it was suggested in one of your earlier reports that they're more than willing to snub Ozpin when they can." Azariah chimed in.

"True but they're far more likely to be compromised; I spent some time over there and trust me when I tell you that they've got very dirty hands." Variel replied.

"And Ozpin?" Azariah asked but Variel shrugged.

"I can't say really, there was no way to get close to him and on top his Deputy Headmistress is just as paranoid as him."

"That's because he's hiding something." Alexander said and they looked towards him.

"What makes you say that?" Arabella asked.

"Call it a gut instinct."

"Actually can't we just use Jaune as a reason why to establish ourselves openly in Vale? Leak it that the son of Alexander Arc, the High Lord or ruler of Arcadia, is attending Beacon. Then they'll be practically begging for you to come to them and you can also use it as a security measure to put a Praetorian Centuria or the Army on Valean territory." Ulrich said but Alexander shook his head.

"No, I don't want to drag Jaune into this and I doubt he would be very appreciative of that as well." He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"For now we'll have to simply do what we can, Lilith, Variel you two may resume Operations on Sanus. Find this Roman Torchwick and capture him as we need to know what he knows. If capture seems out of the question then eliminate him."

* * *

 **What's this?**

 **Has the timer on Torchwick started to count down?**

 **Will Alexander be able to hold his northern province?**

 **Does Pyrrha truly understand the implications of her thoughts about Jaune?**

 **Will I stop talking like this? Of course since I'm not actually talking but typing but that's beside the point.**

 **There's only one way to find out, travel to the future.**

 **On a side note, here's a general information blob taken from my "Arcadian Development and Story Outline" it's not perfect but it at least helps keep my thoughts organized.**

* * *

 **Arcadian Army**

Squad: 10 (Sergeant and Corporal)

Platoon: 50 (Second Lieutenant commands 1st Squad and Sergeant first class 2nd Squad.)

Company: 200 (Captain who also is in charge of the First Platoon and a First Lieutenant who is in charge of the 2nd Platoon)

Battalion: 1,000 (Major, attached to 1st Company and First Captain attached to 2nd Company)

Regiment: 4,000 (Colonel attached to First Battalion and Lieutenant Colonel attached to Second Battalion)

(Side Note: Heavy Infantry and Motorized Infantry Regiments are slightly larger due to the count of Armored Units with their crews. Heavy Infantry Regiments have a 5th Battalion which is an Armored Tank Battalion of one hundred Tanks, forty Light Tanks, fifty MBTs and ten Heavy Tanks. The Tanks are split up into Companies of 25 (14 MBTs, 10 Light and 1 Heavy which is Company Command Tank) for each Infantry Battalion.

A Motorized Infantry Platoon however will have 5 APCs and 2 tanks at all times as such there are far fewer Regiments of Motorized Infantry than there are dedicated Infantry or Armor Regiments.

Line and Light Infantry Regiments are as already said Dedicated Infantry Regiments as such any form of Armor support outside of Tauros Rapid Assault Vehicles and APCs will be from a separate Unit which means they'll need to coordinate with each other.)

Division: 20,000 (Major General attached to Division Headquarter and most senior Colonel is attached to the First Regiment of the Division.)

Army Corp: 100,000 (Lieutenant General attached to Corp Headquarters and most senior Major General is attached to the first Division within the Corp.)

Field Army: 200,000 (General attached to Regional Headquarters and Lieutenant General.)

Army Group: 600,000 (Field Marshal attached to Arcadian Army Headquarters and General)

The Army: Five Army Groups: 3,000,000 or 750 Regiments (High Lord of Arcadia and Lord Commander of the Army)

Note: The Total amount of people counted excludes various other groupings including but not limited to Armor, Brigades, Logistical, Command staff, Field Batteries, Heavy Weapon Companies and other non-combat-oriented elements.

Additional Note: In times of War or Emergencies an additional Field Army's worth of manpower can be drawn up from the populace.

* * *

 **Standard Infantry Equipment:**

Agripinaa (Scar-H, 7.62x51mm with 30 Round Magazines)

Hard Shell Combat Armor (Torso, Forearms, Shoulders, Greaves)

Tactical Load Bearing Vest

Enclosed Tactical Helmet (Inbuilt respirator, communications interface, FoF system, Night Vision)

Gen 4 Glock 22 Sidearm

Assault Stubber (MG3)

Heavy Stubber (M2 Machine Gun)

Accatran Rocket Launcher (32mm Shoulder Fired Rocket Launcher)

* * *

 **Armored Units/Support/Platforms:**

Tauros Rapid Assault Vehicle

Centaur Utility Vehicle (Assists in supporting Armored, Heavy and Mechanized Regiments by providing fuel, ammunition, and spare parts.)

Trojan Support Vehicle (Infantry Support Vehicle that provides ammunition, food, water, fuel for dedicated Infantry vehicles, medical supplies, weapons or spare weapon parts)

M113 "Chimera" Carrier: APC with light armor, single Heavy Stubber, and carries 1 Squad

M551 "Tempest" Sheridan: Light Tank

Centurion "Predator" (Main Battle Tank)

Tiger "Sicaran" 2 (Heavy Support/Tank Role)

Sabre Gun Platform (Quad Heavy Stubbers)

Serpent Infantry Gun (57mm General Purpose Cannon)

Lancer Field Gun (88mm Defensive Cannon)

Goliath Artillery Gun (105mm Light Artillery Piece)

Earthshaker (155mm Heavy Artillery Piece)

Basilisk (135mm Self Propelled Artillery Gun)

* * *

 **Arcadian Aircraft**

A-10 Thunderbolt II (Avenger)

· Armament: One 25mm Cannon with 1,100 rounds. Five hard points on the wings. Four of them are typically loaded with four unguided rocket pods filled with twelve 57mm rockets. The last hard point is fitted with six air-to-air missiles for self-defense.

C-130J (Telamon) Transport Plane

· Can be loaded with one of the following 100 soldiers, 3 Tauros Rapid Assault Vehicles, 2 Chimeras, or 1 tank.

F-35 Lightning II (Lightning (Redundant I know))

· Armament: One 20mm cannon with 750 rounds. Five Hard Points, four of which are located on the wings, 2 are fitted the air-to-air missile pods containing eight 27mm missiles with the other two contain air-to-surface missile pods contain six 37mm missiles. The final hard point is an internal compartment that contains six unguided 20mm missiles.

Corsair (Dual Engine Bomber)

· Armament: 25,000 Pounds or 50 General Purpose Bombs

Valkyrie (V-22 Osprey):

· Arcadia VTOL with carrying capacity of 20 sitting and 30 standing along with the ability to transport light and Medium Armor tanks. Dual Heavy Stubbers mounted on the front.

Vulture Gunship:

· Arcadian Gunship, similar in design to the Valkyrie but sacrifices troop carrying capacity for extra armor and weaponry. Armaments: Nose mounted dual Autocannons with 3,500 rounds and in place of the troop bay is an internal rocket bay containing twelve 84mm missiles. In addition two fuselage-based hard points were attached to either side with pods containing sixteen 57mm rockets.

* * *

 **There ya have it, so go ahead and sink your teeth on that puppy.**

 **Anyways this summer has been unexpectedly complicated for me so I haven't been doing as much writing as I can but that's life for ya. So if you enjoyed this chapter or have anything you'd like to say feel free to leave a comment/review. If there's anything you wanna discuss with me then by all means feel free to send me a message as I'm generally open to discussion.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jaune walked out into the courtyard just as it started to rain a little, he looked up and gave a deep sigh as he walked away from his dorm building. Ilex had sent him a message saying that she was done with his chest plate; he was glad that she was able to fix before combat class.

He had a feeling that he'd be called up to fight again today. Yesterday was thankfully a team battle, he mostly just stood around as a weak point for the enemy team to try and take out.

Luckily for him he had Pyrrha who soundly decimated half of the enemy team before Nora and Ren took the other two out. Goodwitch of course got annoyed at him saying that while it was an okay tactic to use in a controlled duel, it was impractical anywhere else.

Which he agreed with but he didn't feel comfortable in not fighting with his breastplate. Jaune knew that Aura would protect him as it was essentially a shield of its own but his training with Areto had instilled that a good set of armor was just as important as a weapon.

He didn't get why most of his friends didn't want to wear at least some armor as well. Weiss, Ruby, and Nora wore skirts. While Blake, Ren, and Yang wore more practical clothes they still didn't have much protection to them.

Though in Yang's case she seemed like someone who'd want to take hits since if Ruby's explanation was true. her semblance was dependent on it.

Pyrrha thankfully at least wore some armor, though even then he did have some issue with the more, conspicuous, parts that were unguarded.

As he turned a corner, he wasn't surprised to once again see Velvet in the distance. She was sitting under a gazebo. Jaune decided to go over to her as he still couldn't get the sight of Cardin bullying her during lunch a while back out of his head.

She had her back to him and Jaune swore she was shaking her head a little. A small wave of fear and apprehension took root as he got closer.

"Velvet?" He asked tentatively but the girl didn't look at him so he walked up the gazebo steps only to see that she in fact had ear buds in. He could hear loud sounds of what he assumed was a metal band playing as she took them out of her ears.

"Oh hey Jaune, what's up?" She asked and Jaune rubbed his nose with one finger as he cleared his throat.

"Ah, nothing much, just thought I come and see how you're doing." The Faunus girl smiled but he could see that she was studying him.

"Thanks Jaune but as you can see I'm fine." Velvet said casually and Jaune nodded again not sure what he should really do.

"You can sit down if you want unless you've got somewhere to be then by all means, don't let me make you be late." Jaune shrugged as he sat across from Velvet, the rain hit the gazebo's roof softly as the two of them didn't really say anything at first.

"I know why you're here." Velvet finally said.

"Hmm, what?" Jaune asked trying to feign ignorance.

"Come on Jaune, I'm not stupid. I know you came to see how I was doing after you saw Cardin messing with me during lunch but there's nothing to worry about. I'm fine." She said, Jaune smiled as he laughed softly and shook his head at that.

"Velvet, the fact that you think your fine doesn't mean that it's fine that Cardin is being an asshole. In fact I would be more inclined to agree with you in saying that the Grimm can make great omelets than it being fine for you to be bullied just because you're a Faunus." Velvet shrugged in return.

"Not much I can do about that, if that's what people chose to think of me then all I can do is hope that one day that they'll see the error in their thinking."

"Isn't that stressful? I mean most people don't change on a dime without a very good reason. Do you really think you can just stomach that kind of pain without doing something in return?" Jaune asked but Velvet shook her head.

"It doesn't matter if I like it or not, it's just the right thing to do. If I fight back then I'll only be inviting challenge and if I don't face those challenges down then they'll double down on harassing me." Velvet said as she wrapped up her ear buds.

"Besides, that's would just lead me down a similar path as the current White Fang." Jaune cocked his head to the side.

"How so?" He asked and Velvet gave him an odd look.

"I mean, the White Fang shifted to using fear and violence to push their demand for equality which defeats the purpose as the respect one would gain isn't true respect." Velvet smiled.

"Believe it or not, my family was a part of the old White Fang and they used to take me to the local White Fang meetings. I can't remember much from those days but I remember there being even a few humans amongst the Faunus. We didn't have the love or support of the people as a whole back then but those that were with us were true believers." The smile turned a little sad at that point.

"A great change came when the old leader stepped down only to replace by a more ruthless one; all the human members were kicked out from the group. Those that resisted went missing or had suffered unfortunate accidents that saw them buried six feet under or in the hospital for a very long time. My parents left the White Fang in the turmoil of change along with a great deal of others but the new message or image that the White Fang put out still ended up drawing more in that quickly paved over the Old Guard." Velvet chuckled slightly as she pushed her hair over to one shoulder.

"And now the relationship between Faunus and Humans are far more strained than it has been in the last two decades. So when you suggest using my fists to make people stop, I can't help but think about the new White Fang and their twisted reputation." Jaune nodded slowly, he sort of understood her reasoning but maybe it was just his lack of experience in her position that made him want to lash out.

"I understand it's difficult to understand Jaune so I don't blame you." Velvet said but Jaune shook his head.

"No I understand, my family has always answered force with greater force when it comes to my youngest sister but I suppose not everyone can just do that as they're just in a different position than we were." Velvet cocked any eyebrow at that.

"Your sister?" She asked and Jaune frowned.

"Yea my adopted Faunus sister, I thought I mentioned that to you already. Maybe I said that to my partner, I forget sometimes." Jaune mused as he cupped his chin in thought then shook his head.

"Anyways, I just wanna say that even if you don't to fight then at least come to me or my friends. We'll gladly stand up for you against Cardin and his ilk. Anyways I should be going; I'm supposed to go pick up my breastplate from the Armory and Blacksmith." As Jaune was about to turn away, Velvet called out to him.

"Jaune wait." He turned to look at her.

"Yea?"

"Do you really mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"Will you really let me join you and your friends?" Jaune smiled as he remembered something his father once told Avalon's mayor when he came asking for help.

"Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word."

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Jaune was back inside the first year's dorm building; he needed to head towards his dorm to get a new jacket as the one he wore was damp enough that it was uncomfortable then start making his way over to the combat arena for Goodwitch's class.

When he opened the door to their room he was surprised to see Ren waiting on his bed. The quiet teen was reading a small red book to which he closed with a snap as he looked up to meet Jaune's gaze.

"Sup Ren." Jaune said as he strolled in and looked around.

"Where's Nora?" He asked looking at the magenta eyed teen.

"She's with Pyrrha and Team RWBY."

"Why?"

"Cause I asked her." Ren said as he stood up, Jaune just cocked an eyebrow as he stripped off his jacket then tossed it on his own bed then headed over to their shared wardrobe.

"Is there something you need?" Jaune asked.

"I guess that depends on you." Ren replied and Jaune turned to him.

"Ren as much as I am enjoy this rare banter with you, what do you want?" Ren nodded.

"Fair enough, I'll get straight to it. Who are you?" Jaune tilted his head a little in confusion at the question.

"I'm me?"

"What I'm trying to ask about is your last name, Jaune Arc, as far as I'm aware of there's only one other Arc that comes to mind."

"That's kind of a jump in logic isn't it?"

"Maybe but I feel like this is one of those times it's best just to follow one's own gut." Ren said and it clicked in Jaune's head.

"Ah Ren, you're not fat at all." Jaune said

"What?"

"What." Jaune echoed.

"I don't know if you're doing that on purpose or not."

"Doing what on purpose?"

"Jaune."

"Yes Ren."

"Are you an Arc?"

"Like a movie arc?"

"No."

"Good cause then I would have to recommend sending you to the infirmary cause that's pretty crazy."

"Jaune why are you being so difficult."

"What do you want from me Ren? Yes my last name is Arc why does that instantly mean that I'm related to the Arcs of Arcadia." Jaune said feeling slightly annoyed at his teammate's persistence and Ren grabbed his arms.

"Jaune, I'm not messing around here, just give me a yes or no answer. Are you related to the Arcs of Arcadia?" Jaune hesitated, while he knew his father gave him instructions about not giving himself away at Beacon.

He couldn't help but feel trusting Ren with that information wasn't a wrong move due to his normally quiet nature plus he's mentioned about being in an Arcadian backed town before while also defending their actions during the last century.

"Okay, fine then. You win Ren, so allow me to introduce myself as Jaune Arc son of Alexander Arc the High Lord of Arcadia." Ren's eyes widen.

"Wait, you're Alexander's son? Then that would mean you're literally the son of the ruler of all of Arcadia and its Protectorates." Jaune cocked an eyebrow at Ren.

"Yea, that's what I just confirmed like you asked me to." Ren ran his hands through his hair as he stepped back looking at the ground.

"I thought you were just, like, an extended family member or something. Why on Remnant would you be in Beacon? Shouldn't you be like leading an Army or something?" Jaune shrugged.

"I wanted to become a Huntsman and he let me."

"But why?"

"Cause he fought with my older sister and that made her not come home except for certain occasions. With my sister like that he decided not to fight me on it as he did with her." Jaune explained as Ren sat back down on his bed.

"Why don't you ever stand up for Arcadia whenever people bash it? Like Blake when she criticizes it in regard to the Faunus." Ren asked after a few moments and Jaune sighed as leaned against the opposite wall.

"Because she's entitled to her thoughts, it's not my job to correct her on what she thinks is right. On top of that, no one is supposed to know that I'm the son of Arcadia's ruler as it could complicate things here in the Four Kingdoms."

"Then is it really okay that you told me?" Ren asked and Jaune shrugged.

"I trust you Ren and besides if my dad ever did find out I told you then I could probably convince him not to kill you."

"What?"

"Nevermind." Jaune said as he scratched his cheek and Ren shook his head.

"Okay, then can I ask why did you stick up for Velvet and fight so much with Cardin? Wouldn't that draw attention to you as well?" Ren asked.

"That's not necessarily a pure Arcadian trait it's just something a normal person should do when faced against hate or injustice."

"Fair enough, I just thought it was interesting comparison between your history and the history of the world as a whole."

"Ah yes, the whole Arcadians coming to the aid of the Faunus. I see what you're getting it but we should really get going Ren." Jaune pointed out as they still had class to go to and Jaune already didn't want to get any further on Goodwitch's bad side.

"So are you the only one that knows or does Nora know why you came to talk to me alone as well?" Jaune asked as the two teens left their dorm room.

"Nora knows as well but she didn't think it was necessary for us to know for certain hence why she was fine with not being here to hear you say the truth."

"Well, I guess it's not that bad for you two to know about my secret, hopefully no one else questions me about this as well." Jaune mused aloud and Ren glanced at him.

"Have you told Pyrrha?"

"Can't, as much as I want to tell her this is something I gave my word to my father about. It's one thing to confirm if you've pretty much already figured it out but telling someone that wouldn't have known wouldn't be a smart idea."

"How do you know that you can trust me?"

"Because you don't seem like someone that just talks for the sake of talking, the same goes for Nora, I know she'll keep this a secret as long as I want it to be."

"Thank you for trusting us Jaune."

"It's not a problem Ren you're my teammates and my friend."

"Then why not tell Pyrrha?"

"I'm just going to ignore that question for now."

"Fair enough, I'm not going to pressure you to tell her then."

"Thank you."

"I mean, it's sure going to be an interesting show when Pyrrha finds out that you've been hiding a secret like this from her." Ren said as a smile grew on his face, Jaune narrowed his eyes at the other teen.

"I wonder which one of us will have it worse? The person who wanted to keep it a secret or the one that figured it out but decided not to say anything."

"Obviously the responsibility will fall upon the one who had the secret in the first place as without their desire to keep it as such then the person who figured it out wouldn't have needed to keep it a secret for them as well."

"Well shit." Jaune murmured and surprisingly Ren made a sound that Jaune swore sounded like a laugh. The two of them didn't really say anything as they made their way over to the arena, waiting outside of the main entrance Jaune wasn't surprised to see Nora and Pyrrha.

"You two took your time." Nora said as Jaune and Ren walked up to them.

"Eh, Ren was asleep in the dorm and it took a while to wake him up." Jaune explained.

"Really?" Pyrrha asked and Ren shrugged.

"What can I say; it was a breath of fresh air being in there by myself so I took the opportunity."

"What are you trying to say Ren?" Nora asked peering closely at the magenta eyed teen.

"I think he means he enjoyed having the room to himself from distractions." Jaune explained and the orange hair girl nodded.

"I know what you mean Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune are such chatterboxes when you put them together." Jaune frowned.

"Chatterbox?" Nora patted his arm.

"It's okay Jaune, it keeps things lively but you gotta understand that Ren needs his space sometimes." Jaune laughed softly as he gestured towards the door.

"Come on, let's go in before Professor Goodwitch rips us a new one." Jaune said as he walked through the doorway, already there were two opponents waiting in the arena. On one end was Yang and the other end was a tanned skinned girl with brown hair that carried a Manriki.

"Who's Yang fighting?" Jaune asked as the four of them took spots a row above team RWBY.

"She's fighting Tara from team TMBR." Ruby said as she waved at Jaune over her shoulder before going back to looking over Weiss's shoulder who was filing away at her nails.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yang obviously." Ruby said from below.

"I'm going to have to agree with Ruby, Yang, for all her faults she's good at two things. Telling bad jokes and fighting, though of the two I'd say her fighting ability is the only plus." Weiss explained.

"I'm not sure, Yang's a formidable opponent in hand to hand combat but Tara's got the advantage in combat control." Blake, in a rare moment, chimed in on the conversation.

"Nonsense, Tara's got nothing to control the range plus her weapon's rather, simple, design shows that it's not going to be capable of blocking Yang's attacks." Weiss retorted and Blake glanced at her with a slightly narrow eyes.

"What do you think Jaune?" Pyrrha asked looking at him and he shrugged.

"I don't know. All I can assume of Tara is that she's a competent fighter but so is Yang it's really just going to come down to how they react to each other."

"Well in that case, Tara's screwed if Yang gets mad." Nora commented from the other side of Ren.

"Oh yea, Yang's go her temper tantrum semblance." Jaune mused aloud.

"Hey now, it's more than just that." Ruby said as she looked at Jaune but everyone looked at her and the young reaper just shrank down a little.

"Okay fine, it's kind of like that but don't underestimate her. Yang's semblance absorbs energy from the attacks dealt against her then she uses it to bolster her own attacks but it doesn't negate the fact that she's still getting hit." Ruby explained and Jaune filed that vital information away in his mind. As at some point Goodwitch might make him face off against her.

"The match is starting." Weiss interrupted as the lights dimmed everywhere except above the arena.

Below them Goodwitch signaled the start of the match. Yang was the first to move, making two quick punching motions, two blasts of Ember Celica headed towards Tara. The leader of team TMBR jumped away, Yang however was already moving towards her with a fist raised.

Tara was able to dodge the first blow then the quick upper cut from Yang before kicking Yang away then sending her own strike with her Manriki which Yang ducked under.

Above them Jaune could see that despite avoiding the brunt of Yang's strikes, Tara's Aura was less than before, Ember Celica still fired shotgun shells so he assumed that they must have nicked her anyways.

Yang pressed in again sending two quick jabs before sending a low kick aimed at Tara's legs. As the girl jumped away, she was able to catch Yang's leg by using her Manriki to wrap around the incoming leg. This however was a mistake as Yang had unexpectedly swung at her.

A full blast of Ember Celica's hit Tara in the chest sending the girl back, losing the grip on Yang's leg. Yang went after the girl as she struggled to get back onto her feet but instead of trying to dodge out of the way she jumped forward into Yang's guard.

Tara wrapped her Manriki around Yang's right arm as she went past her then pulled Yang over her shoulder slamming the blonde into the ground. Yang, not one to go down easily, immediately rolled away then rose to her knees to fire Ember Celica again but Tara's Manriki was already arcing down on Yang.

The weighted end of the weapon struck aside the gauntlet before she twisted around to strike Yang in the knee just as she tried jumping towards the side to counter Tara's spin.

Jaune could see Yang smiling as the two combatants backed away. Of the two, Tara was doing worse in terms of her Aura but Yang had taken a few blows that had lowered her Aura as well.

Yang jumped forward and Tara moved to meet her upward swing with her weapon but Yang spun to her left avoiding the weapon as she closed in on Tara. Yang slammed her left gauntlet into Tara's ribs before sending a high right hook that connected with her face sending the girl into the ground.

Tara rolled away on the ground while Yang began a pendulum step, her arms hanging loosely at the side as she waited for the fallen girl to get up. Jaune glanced back up at the screen; Tara was almost out of the fight with how low her Aura was.

"Well it looks like Yang is going to win again." Weiss said with an almost bored tone in her voice.

"The match isn't over yet." Blake said from the side and Jaune had to agree with her. Tara didn't look like she was giving up as she was on feet as well; she looked exhausted but not beaten.

Tara started spinning her Manriki slowly then dashed forward towards Yang who grinned as she lunged towards the other girl ready to trade blows. As Yang struck out at Tara, the other girl leapt to the side just as Yang had made the move however Yang could see that Tara's weapon was glowing green and yellow at one end.

Yang cursed loudly as Tara struck the ground near her; Yang's vision briefly went white as she was flung backwards into a roll. Coming to her feet she looked up to see Tara coming at her again with the Manriki coming down towards her.

Not having a choice, Yang used Ember Celica to blast herself forward into the girl. Though she was unable to get another hit in, the force of her launching forward hitting the girl in the torso was still enough to send the other girl tumbling backward.

"That's enough! The match is over! Yang is the winner." Goodwitch called out and the lights overhead brightened. Yang jogged over to help the fallen girl up and the two shook hands before breaking off.

"Well, I'll admit that she sort of put up a fight but Yang is clearly the better fighter." Weiss said as she looked at Blake who didn't reply.

"Actually, I think she could have beaten Yang." Jaune chimed in and Weiss looked up at him with a certain level of disdain.

"What do you mean?"

"She seemed to have underutilized her weapon, at the very end there was a weird blast that sent Yang flying back." Jaune pointed out.

"Ah yes, I think she used a mixture of Wind and Lightning Dust, it would explain the flash and how it sent Yang back. Though I would have to correct you on something, it wasn't the fact that she underutilized her weapon but simply her weapon isn't as practical in comparison to Yang's." Weiss replied and Jaune just looked confused at her.

"What?" He asked and Pyrrha put on a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune I think she's saying that Tara's weapon requires it to actually hit something in order for the Dust to work. A smaller target means the greater chance for it to miss though it might be useful for the Creatures of Grimm, which are larger than any of us so that would mean it hits more often. Now while a near miss like what we saw down there might have an effect there's a second thing you're not taking into account and that's the fact that it looks like there's a limited around of Dust for her to use which would mean she can't open up with an attack like that without wasting it on an attack that has no major effect." Jaune nodded slowly in realization.

"I think I get it now." Though he was a little distract at how Pyrrha seemed to be rubbing her fingers in a circle on his shoulder.

"Alright, the next match will be a team match." Goodwitch called out as she walked to the center of the arena. Above her eight blank pictures appeared on the screen then it began to cycle through the pictures of all the students present. Jaune sighed as the eight images stopped on his team and team CRDL.

"This match will be between team CRDL and team JNPR. Both teams have ten minutes to get their gear and convene." Goodwitch said before turning away. Jaune led the way as his team headed down the steps towards the locker rooms. As they turned into the hallway leading towards it Jaune could see Yang stepped out as well.

"Oh hey, you guys up for a team fight?" She called out to them and Jaune nodded.

"Who you fighting?"

"Cardin." Pyrrha replied and Yang whistled.

"Lucky, I wouldn't mind knocking their heads together. We'll be cheering for you then." Yang said Jaune and the others went into the locker room. At the far end Jaune could see Cardin talking to his three teammates as well.

"So what's the plan?" Ren asked and Nora laughed.

"We don't need a plan to win; me and Pyrrha will kick butts and break legs."

"Yea I'm gonna have to say, don't break anyone's legs Nora." Jaune said and Nora frowned.

"Jaune, why do you have to hold me back like that?"

"Because I don't want Goodwitch doesn't break my legs in reprisal." The shorter girl nodded as the four of them split off to put on their gear. After a few minutes Jaune turned around then waited by one of the benches as Pyrrha, Ren and Nora walked towards him.

Pyrrha and Nora openly carried their weapons but Ren tucked his away in his sleeves. Jaune had yet to figure out how he was able to do that.

"So who's fighting who?" Pyrrha asked.

"I was thinking Nora would fight Sky Lark, Ren takes Russel, you'll take Dove and I'll fight Cardin. How does that sound?" Pyrrha seemed to think for a moment.

"I'm fine with it, how about you two?" She asked and Nora nodded completely content with whoever she fought.

"Wouldn't it be best to have Nora fight Cardin? Match his strength with hers while Pyrrha fights Sky since she has a spear and you take Dove with your sword against his." Ren pointed out and Jaune nodded.

"While that's what I would normally but this is a controlled match so I feel like it would be best if I, as the team leader, fought against Cardin. Pyrrha's also a very versatile fighter that she could fight each and every person on team CRDL and win. She's got Akoúo and Miló which she uses with such skill that she can go toe to toe in ambidextrous fighting with Russel. Her skill with the javelin can beat Sky easily as for Dove. Well he's kind of just there so that's no contest. Lastly of course is Cardin, she's faster and far more skilled than him that his strength is useless. So with that being said, it's kind of difficult to find a place for Pyrrha to fight." Jaune explained evenly and Pyrrha looked to the side.

"Sorry." She said and Jaune stood up abruptly.

"No! Its fine Pyrrha, I'm not trying to lambast you for being incredible." He said and Nora whistled.

"Fearless leader, is now really the time to be flirting with your partner?"

"F-Flirting!? I'm not flirting, I'm just pointing how the truth!" Jaune sputtered and Nora cackled as she walked away. Ren gave Jaune an apologetic shrug as he followed his teammate and Jaune turned to Pyrrha who was smiling now.

"I-I'm not, bah, whatever. Let's go." Jaune said with a heavy sigh as he turned away to hide his red face. Pyrrha surprisingly giggled behind him as the two of them walked to catch up with Ren and Nora who were standing by the locker room doors.

Soon the four of them were outside on the arena again, across from them stood team CRDL. The four of them took up positions across from their agreed upon opponents.

"Alright! I want a clean fight, be mindful of your Aura levels. If anyone tries to strike at someone with low Aura I will catch them and they will be punished severely." Goodwitch called out, Jaune jumped from side to side in a pendulum step as Yang had done earlier.

"Combatants get ready!" She called out and the light dimmed overhead. Jaune drew his sword from its scabbard but left it on his belt. He and Cardin had fought two more times since the first time and Jaune figured it would be best to keep it aside for the most part.

"Begin!" Nora made the first move by launching four of her grenades which scattered team CRDL as they tried to avoid getting caught close together.

Ren immediately peeled off to chase down Russel who was unfortunate enough to get caught by the concussive force of the grenades which tossed him to the ground.

Pyrrha was already exchange fire with Dove as she sprinted towards the teen who was backpedaling fast to keep distance away from Pyrrha.

Cardin on the other hand had simply roared as he charged straight for Jaune. He dropped into a Fool's Guard with his left leg forward and right leg back in a bent position, Crocea Mors pointed down and away from him.

As Cardin jump forward to swing his mace downward Jaune's skull, se immediately jumped to the side spinning Crocea Mors around to swing down instead to strike at Cardin's right forearm.

Jaune however cursed as Cardin's mace hit the ground there was a flare of red then an explosion that sent him onto his back. Rolling to the side he was immediately on his feet again as Cardin was yelling again as his mace came soaring around to strike at him.

He didn't have time to get out of the way this time and it stuck him in the right side which sent him flying several feet to the side. Cursing softly Jaune got to one knee as Cardin grinned at him then came at him once more but Jaune was ready for it.

Instead of dodging out of the way he raised his sword into a left sided hanging guard to block the mace right under its head.

As the two weapons touched Jaune immediately shifted to the right then pushed down. With that Jaune was barely able to lock his crossguard under the mace head and push it aside much to Cardin's surprise.

He could hear the crack of the ground as Cardin's mace hit but Jaune wasn't in the position to withdraw his sword as he was too close to Cardin. Instead of trying to use his weapon the larger teen decided to head-butt Jaune.

Jaune could feel the flash of pain blossom across his nose and his eyes watered but he quickly retaliated despite the pain by kicking the inside of Cardin's knee. Aura or no Aura the blow knocked Cardin's leg out from under him.

The large teen wasn't done with Jaune as he fell to one knee he grabbed the edge of Jaune's breast plate, pulling him forward. Jaune lost his grip on his sword as he was lifted above and over the larger teen only to be tossed onto his back.

Jaune rolled to the side as Cardin stood up then kneed him in the face sending another painful flash in his vision.

"You think you're better than me Arc? You think you're stronger? I'll show you what true strength is." Cardin growled out from clenched teeth as he grabbed a handful of Jaune's hair then pulled his head up only to send a jab at Jaune's mouth.

Jaune sent an uppercut right into Cardin's groin, it's a shame that he still had Aura as while it forced the larger teen to let go it wasn't as satisfying as he'd hope for.

Cardin however stepped back and picked up his mace however he also kicked Jaune's sword further away.

"This is it Jauney boy." Cardin growled but Jaune ignored him as he pulled his scabbard out then quickly shifted it into a shield, bringing it up as Cardin brought down his mace. The impact was jarring to say at least but Jaune had successfully blocked the attack.

Gritting his teeth he strained as he pushed Cardin back then quickly broke contact only to crouch down to ram the edge of his shield into the knee he had kicked before.

Jaune rose up as Cardin lurched to the side; he pressed the attack slamming the edge of his shield into Cardin's chest before kicking the larger teen in the stomach.

Jaune used that break in their engagement to go back after his sword then turned around to see Cardin kneeling on the ground breathing hard. Jaune advanced forward despite the several flaring pain that his nose emitted as Cardin got back to his feet to swing his mace again at Jaune.

Not wanting the mace to reach full momentum, Jaune aimed a punch with his shield edge at Cardin's right elbow. Cardin yelled in anger as he struck at him with his left hand but Jaune simply turned it to his left with his crossguard.

Wanting to end the fight as quickly as he could, he slammed his right elbow back smashing Cardin's nose. As the bigger teen reeled back Jaune sent a back hand downward slash with his blade's tip hitting Cardin's exposed collar bone.

"That's enough! Cardin Winchester is out of the match! Team JNPR wins!" Goodwitch voice called out jerking Jaune out of the moment as Cardin crumpled to the ground. Blinking he looked around to see that his friends were standing by their own fallen opponents.

"Mr. Arc you may take your team back to the locker rooms now." Goodwitch called out and Jaune nodded slowly as he shifted his shield back into a scabbard then sheathed his sword as he headed back. Pyrrha and the others quickly caught up to him.

"You kicked Cardin's ass Fearless Leader." Nora said as she bounced ahead of him and Jaune winced a little on the inside at the nickname.

"To be fair he had me on the rope a few times there." Jaune said but Nora snorted.

"Come on Jaune Jaune, you're almost as good with a sword as Pyrrha." She said and Jaune snorted in return.

"Let's not kid ourselves here Pyrrha would wipe the floor with me." Nora nodded.

"Oh yea that would definitely happen but telling a little white lie never hurt anyone."

"But then why say it?"

"Cause silly that would just be mean if I constantly told you that you could never beat her. It's true but the truth hurts when it gets rubbed in your face." She explained and Jaune had to admit that she was onto something there.

"Come now Nora, Jaune's already a competent swordsman and he's quite effect in using his shield both on offense and defense." Pyrrha chimed in to his defense.

"True but you'd still beat him."

"The question isn't whether or not he could beat me but if he could just handle himself in a fight which he has proven to us now." Pyrrha explained and Nora seemed to think for a moment.

"I guess you're right, if I had to compare what I saw when I first met Jaune Jaune to what I see now I'd say he's proved himself a thousand times over."

"I'll have you know, it wasn't my fault I was like that during Initiation." Jaune tried to explain as they entered the locker room but the others just laughed as they broke apart to put away their gear. After a while team CRDL and two other students entered the locker room as they were about to leave.

Jaune made sure to give a wide berth to Cardin and his goonies as he left the locker room. Once outside he could hear the buzz of chatter from the other students as they got closer to the stairs leading back up to the seats.

"You guys did awesome out there." Ruby was the first to call out as they ascended the steps.

"I know right? I only wished I could have beaten up Cardin but I guess our Fearless Leader needed to blow off some steam as well." Nora jovially said as she fell onto the bench above team RWBY.

After two more fights the class drew to the end and Goodwitch started talking about some festival. He ignored it however as a small smile grew on his facing watching as members of their two teams talked with each other.

It was strange to think that just a little while ago there was what seemed like a strain between them. Now they were pretty close, studying together, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner together or just hanging out.

Jaune Arc simply hoped that it would never change.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

"Do you think she'll ever show up?" Yang groaned from the table to his left before a loud thud echoed through the room as a head hit a desk. It had been twenty minutes since class was supposed to start but Professor Peach their Life Science teacher had yet to appear again.

As far as Jaune was aware, they had only ever seen Professor Peach and that was on the first day of class. If Jaune recalled correctly she was a short mousy woman with grey eyes and spectacles. Honestly Jaune had thought she was a student at how nervous she was.

Now though it seemed that whenever they entered her room she was nowhere to be seen. Instead she always had her, rather large, chalkboard covered in detailed illustrations and instructions about that day's lesson.

They'd read what she wrote, do the end of chapter questions then leave it on her rather barren desk. Then the next day they'd find their work graded with notes either pointing out things they did wrong or praising them if they did something she liked.

What was odd now was the fact there was nothing on the board, no papers waiting for them either. Some of them were thinking that maybe she'll actually show up and teach them in person.

That quickly was squashed as no one showed up. Most of the students were asleep or on their scrolls, a few of the more diligent students like Weiss, Pyrrha and Ren were actually reading the textbook.

"Shit! Goodwitch is coming!" One of the students who had left to go to the bathroom called out as they raced back to their seat and everyone stiffened before pulling out their textbooks. Less than a few seconds would pass for Jaune could hear the steady click of Goodwitch's high heels and she appeared in the doorway.

Jaune made sure to keep his face pointed down at his textbook as he flipped open a small notebook that he used for notes. In his peripheral he could see Goodwitch, with a textbook under her arm, shake her head in annoyance before striding towards the front of the room.

"Alright class, it seems Professor Peach will be unable to make it to class for this week as such I shall be taking over for the time being." She said before setting her textbook down onto the table.

"Everyone put your textbooks away; I will be going over Musculoskeletal and orthopedic biomechanics follow along and take notes." Goodwitch said while above her a purple silhouetted piece of chalk began writing at the top of the board. So began a grueling forty minutes of note taking as Goodwitch walked around the room while simultaneously using her semblance to write on the board from afar.

When the bell finally began to ring, there was a collective sigh of relief as students set down or dropped their pens or pencils.

"Class tomorrow will be different, meet at the landing pads in the front of the school with your weapons, we'll be heading to the Forever Fall Forest." Goodwitch called out drawing their attentions before leaving the class.

Jaune sighed as he flexed his right hand as he skimmed over what he had written, normally he'd take one or two pages of notes of each of the chapters.

Now though he flipped through six pages of essentially copying down everything Goodwitch wrote and said.

"Kill me." Nora groaned as she rested her head on her own pink notebook.

"If I do that then I would have to carry your body out of here after cleaning up the mess." Ren said evenly.

"Did you get everything down?" Pyrrha asked drawing his attention and he nodded.

"I think so."

"If you want I can look over it for you?"

"I rather not subject you to the torture of trying to read my handwriting." Jaune said.

"It's not that bad." Pyrrha said with a smile as she rested a hand on his notebook and pulled it closer to her. She continued to have that smile but Jaune could see that look on confusion enter her emerald eye.

"Told you." He said and she snapped her head up.

"No, its fine I can read it."

"Come on Pyrrha, my hand writing sucks." Ren leaned over.

"It's better than Nora's."

"Yea but that's because she likes to doodle on her paper which is why it looks messy. Take the doodles away and it's neater than yours." Jaune pointed out and the other teen shrugged.

"Yours isn't bad, you actually write pretty neat the only problem is you write so small that the letters sometimes looks smashed together." Pyrrha noted as she leaned close to him to point out several words that looked closer to ink blobs than words.

Jaune however was far more concerned at how close his partner was to him, he could smell cinnamon in her hair. Was it her shampoo?

Pyrrha looked up at him and noticed how close she was to his face as well. Then immediately sat back straight then close his notebook then slid it back to him.

"So what's the plan boss man?" Nora asked and Jaune looked up at the clock, classes were over for the day but it wasn't nearly time to go get dinner.

"I'm not sure, is there anything you want to do?" He asked looking at his three teammates.

"I was planning on doing some maintenance on Akoúo and Miló." Pyrrha said and Nora groaned.

"Pyrrha you work on your weapons every morning before class, I think you don't need to do that now."

"Well we just had a practice match and besides that a well-cared for weapon is essential."

"Sure but over caring is also a thing." Nora said as they started to gather their things.

"She's kind of got a point Pyrrha, it's good to take care of your weapons but sometimes it's easier to just let things be." Jaune said and Nora snapped her fingers.

"See? Even Jaune agrees and he normally sides with you."

"No I don't." Jaune said trying to defend himself.

"Yes you do."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"You're wrong."

"No, you're wrong." Jaune tilted his head back and sighed loudly.

"Fine, let's agree to disagree."

"Sure." Nora said with a barely concealed smile.

"But you're still wrong."

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Pyrrha walked out of the bathroom after taking a nice cool shower, after dinner she had excused herself to go get a light workout done in one of Beacon's gyms. She was wearing a red tank top with loose shorts.

She had wanted to invite Jaune but he had to go to one of those Team Leader classes which were held at night. So instead she was forced to go alone as Ren didn't seem like he wanted to go and Nora obviously wasn't someone that she could ask.

As much as she liked Nora, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel exasperated with the bubbly orange hair girl sometimes. This was rare because she always thought she had a good level of patience to handle anyone.

She sat on her bed and looked around the room. Ren was working on his own weapons while Nora bounced her head to the rhythm of whatever music she was listening to.

Pyrrha didn't know what to say to them so she just stood up and looked for a pair of slip on some wool lounger shoes then picked up her scroll as she left the room. She was surprised however to see Ruby standing outside her door.

"Oh hey Pyrrha." The younger girl said as she turned to look at her.

"Hello Ruby, is your team leading class done?" Pyrrha asked and mentally slapped herself for asking the obvious.

"Yup." Pyrrha looked around but didn't see Jaune.

"He said he had something to do." Ruby said startling Pyrrha for a second.

"What?"

"Jaune."

"I know but what did he have to do?" Pyrrha asked but Ruby simply shrugged.

"I don't know maybe he's trying to get a snack at the cafeteria." The younger girl said before waving goodbye and disappearing into her room.

Pyrrha decided to walk down the hallway instead of going back inside. It was a little odd to find the hallways so quiet but at the same time she enjoyed it.

No one was looking at her or whispering behind her back. Sure it was better than the start of the year when other freshmen came up to talk or get a picture with her but she'd prefer it if they completely ignored her.

Of course that could never happen; even now she'd get messages from her parents relaying offers from companies that wanted to sponsor her or were offering ridiculous amounts of Lien to appear in a simple commercial with their product.

At first she'd say yes to as many as she could which her parents agreed with as all three of them knew that being a Huntress, even a famous one, didn't mean it was a lucrative job.

So her parents would always save most of the money that she got paid for while giving her a small amount as an allowance. All in order to keep her attitude about money tempered.

Though after a while when her bank account reached more digits than she had on one hand she stopped caring. Sure she had enough self-restraint to keep herself from abusing the money she got but she would have felt just as fine if it wasn't there at all now.

Pyrrha's thoughts were interrupted when she nearly walked into a wall, looking up she realized that she was at a familiar set of stairs. The same set of stairs that led up to the rooftop where she had taken Jaune last week.

She walked up the stairs slowly then pushed open the door; a cool breeze came through chilling her a little. Beyond it though she was surprised to see Jaune out in the open and even more surprising was the fact that he looked to be training.

Jaune Arc stood with his shirt off as he held his sword with two hands crossed above his head with the blade pointing forward and slightly down. He stepped forward spinning the blade clockwise in upper swing before switching sides then spinning the blade around in a downward slash.

Pyrrha watched as Jaune switched from what she gathered were different forms. It was a strange style of fighting, while she was sure in combat he would fight more fluidly but now the way he looked it almost robotic in how he switched forms.

She stepped out and slowly closed the door but it clicked loudly. Wincing she turned around to see Jaune standing up straight with his sword resting on his right shoulder.

Pyrrha couldn't help but lower her eyes to zero in on his torso. While Jaune isn't some super well-built guy, he had a lean but powerful looking body. Sure she could see it in the dorm whenever they were getting ready but there was something, interesting, about seeing it in the middle of a workout.

"Uh, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked snapping his fingers in front of her face and the red head shook her head as she looked at him. While the moon was out and gave off enough light that they could generally see each other, she was glad or just hoping it wasn't enough for him to see how red her face was.

"Is there something you need?" He asked but Pyrrha shook her head.

"No I was just wondering where you were, Ruby had already returned from your class but you were nowhere to be seen."

"Ah, well I had some extra energy that I felt like burning off."

"So you came up to the roof, stripped off your shirt and started practicing what I assume are stances with your sword?" Pyrrha summarized and Jaune shrugged.

"Pretty much." Pyrrha just shook her head as she laughed.

"Well come on then, you're gonna catch a cold without a shirt."

"In a moment, I kind of want to stay out here for a little longer." Jaune said as he turned away from her.

"Is something a matter?" Pyrrha asked but Jaune chuckled softly.

"No, it's just nice out that's all." Of course Jaune was lying; he had started thinking about his conversation with Ren earlier when he confronted him about being from Arcadia.

It had honestly frightened Jaune a little when the usually quiet teen had done that. Sure they had that little spat when they first met about his ability to lead but after that point it had been mostly smooth sailing for the team.

Now though, he had broken a promise he had made with his father about not revealing himself to anyone. He could argue that he had been confronted about it but then again he didn't actually try to deny it or come up with a logical explanation.

He folded at the first sign of confrontation about who he was and honestly it was pathetic. Most importantly however was the fact that now two of his closest friends in Beacon knew who he really was.

However his partner didn't know who he really was and for some reason that rubbed him the wrong way. Should he tell her? It seemed like a good idea, to get it all out in the open with his team but at the same time it felt like the truth would just make things complicated.

For Ren and Nora it seemed that they already knew a decent amount of what the Arcadian people were like since they said they had been in an Arcadian backed Outland town.

He wasn't sure why but it was something he needed to think about. As once the cat was out of the bag there was no way any of them could forget about it.

Jaune sighed as he picked up a white under shirt then slipped it on as he went to the edge of the roof and sat down. Pyrrha wasn't far behind as she sat down next to him.

Neither of them said anything; the two of them just sat staring at the Academy. Below them Jaune could see a few lights on most likely from the main hallways and maybe a few dorm rooms.

"Hey Pyrrha." He finally said.

"Yes Jaune?"

"Have you ever wanted to tell someone a really important secret but were unable to because of how important that secret was?"

"What?" He sighed.

"Let's me put it like this, let's say you have a secret, one which you were sworn to keep but the longer you keep it a secret the more it makes you feel wrong on the inside because there's someone you want to tell it to but aren't able to due to you swearing to keep it a secret in the first place even though you don't want too."

"Sounds tough but, well, if you made a promise you have to keep it."

"Really?"

"Of course Jaune, if it's something you've given your word about not saying then you can't tell anyone." He sighed as he looked out over the school again, that wasn't the thing he wanted to hear but she was right.

"So, excited for the trip to Forever Fall?" He asked changing topic.

"Yea I hear it's beautiful out there, well, except for the occasional Grimm pack." She said sounding excited even at the mention of Grimm.

"Hopefully we won't have to deal with any of them out there." He said and Pyrrha hummed in agreement. Jaune gave off a little sigh, content with her going along with him with the conversation. Soon the two of them talked for a little while but wholly ignorant of a certain person who happened to be standing starring at from the window below them.

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

Jaune stepped out of the Bullhead as it touched down in a large fenced off area on the southern side of Forever Fall with several large structures in the center. It was the Forever Fall Station, a place for tourists and travelers from the north to stop by before Vale.

There was at least several dozen people, most noticeably though was the three other groups of what seemed to be school children.

At the edge of the clearing however was a high metal fence with a second layer of what Jaune assumed was some type of safety glass.

As more students piled out of the Bullhead Jaune could see men in green and brown uniforms that wore dark green tactical gear while carrying Dust Rifles.

Valean soldiers, a rather rare sight, as most of the Vale Army resided outside the city of Vale though Jaune wasn't sure why this was the case.

"Alright class, please gather around!" Goodwitch called out as she stepped out from a second Bullhead by herself. Jaune however could see a number of boxes piled up behind her.

"Each team is to take one box after which we'll be heading out in the forest of Forever Fall." She said and several people including Jaune stepped forward to get the boxes. He could see someone approach him from the corner of his eye.

"Sup loser." Cardin whispered as he bumped into Jaune but Jaune didn't respond with anything but a heavy sigh. He didn't want to deal with Cardin today as he was rather excited to explore the Forever Fall forest. So he stepped forward grabbing a box of his own then turned to walk back to his team.

Looking down he could see that there was eight glass jars sitting in two rows of four. He tilted his head to the side a little confused at why they would need that.

Then again he supposed they must be taking samples of some kind since this was a Life Science class. He glanced over at Professor Goodwitch who, like always, seemed rather annoyed.

Though this time it seemed a little justified as she's been forced to cover for the ever mysterious Professor Peach.

"Alright does every team have their box? Good, let's move." Goodwitch called out after making sure everything was off the Bullheads. Then headed over towards a gated section of the fence where five soldiers stood around. Jaune couldn't hear what she said but he saw the five men stiffen as she went up to them before the gate slid apart.

"I think this is the first time I've ever actually seen Valean soldiers, police sure but not soldiers." Ruby spoke up from behind him as team RWBY walked up beside them.

"Really? Ruby we saw that Army convoy a few years back when they came to Patch." Yang pointed out.

"Yea but that wasn't really a convoy it was just some people who were going away to train to be soldiers." Ruby said.

"I mean this is Vale not Atlas, they don't have the same military presence as us." Weiss said and Jaune glanced at her.

"What do you mean?" She sighed.

"Seriously? Oh, wait, I forget you lived in an Outland town. Well you know about the Great War right?"

"I'm not that stupid Weiss."

"Your words, not mine." The white hair girl said and Yang laughed a little before quieting down when Weiss glared at her.

"Anyways, after the Great War the Four Kingdoms wanted to prevent the chance of going to war ever again. As such the Four Kingdoms began a massive disarmament of their militaries."

"Except for Atlas." Blake cut in and Weiss hesitated on that before continuing.

"Well yes, Atlas didn't believe in the disarmament. As they believed they would still need their Military's strength to secure their borders from the Grimm and expand out as they grew since they didn't think the newly established Huntsman Academies could be relied upon alone." Jaune hummed a little.

"That makes sense."

"Does it?" Pyrrha asked looking at him.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't a military force; they're mostly just freelancers, or independent contractors, that go around protecting those they can in the Outlands. When it comes down to taking and controlling ground it would make more sense to use an Army which is far larger so they'd be able to cover or protect more ground. Also it makes sense on a logistical scale as well, if you compare the eight of us now you can see we all use different weapons or ammunition for our firearms. If Yang runs out of shotgun shells for Ember Celica then that's it for her since none of us carry spare shells. The same goes for Ruby, Pyrrha, Nora, and Weiss. Ren and Blake might be able to share since they use handguns but I'm not sure."

"So our individuality makes it hard, as future Huntsmen and Huntress, to be organized like a military force?" Ren asked.

"Kind of, I can't say for sure but I'd think it would be a logistical nightmare. That being said, how many Huntsmen and Huntresses are out there? In the eighty years since the start of the Academies has there been an actual difference in the amount of Grimm out there? Maybe the Four Kingdoms and the Outland towns or villages close to them are safer but what about the ones nowhere close to the Four Kingdoms. How long does it take before a Huntsman or Huntresses is free to go out there but by then only come across a destroyed town."

"That's what we're here to do though Jaune, we're going to make sure they're safe as well." Ruby said but Jaune couldn't help but just shake his head.

"I'm sure there have been others that thought or felt the same way as you Ruby but like I said. It's been nearly a century and while there has been a noticeable growth in the world's population there hasn't been much progress in defeating the Grimm for good."

"So what are you trying to say? That we shouldn't train to fight in order to protect people because how hard the task is?"

"No but you can't blame me for thinking that something is wrong in how little it seems we've made in progress in defeating the Grimm."

"He's got a point." Blake said and before Ruby could argue with her Jaune cut in again.

"That's enough now, I'm sorry for bringing the mood down."

"It's fine Jaune." Yang said eager to change the subject as well. The eight of them quieted down as they along with the rest of their classmates followed Professor Goodwitch deeper into the Forever Fall forest.

It wasn't long before called them to gather around her before explaining that they needed to get some sap from trees found within the forest for the class. While unexpectedly letting them know that they only need to turn in four jars while keeping the other four for their own consumption then told them they had an hour to complete the task.

Jaune glanced over to see Ren eyeing the jars that he carried with a looked that was mixed with contempt and horror.

"What's up?" Jaune asked and Ren shook his head as he realized that Jaune was talking to him.

"You say something Jaune?"

"I asked, what's up, you're starring at these jars as if you're gonna kick them out of my hands." The magenta eyed teen nodded slowly.

"I'm just a little bit worried." Jaune frowned a little in confusion.

"You see, I read that the sap we're getting is really sweet and if Nora figures that out I dread to think what might happen to us." Jaune felt a bead of sweat break out on his forehead. They had all become aware of the chaos that Nora could sew when given something like sugar or caffeine.

The first time that happened, Nora had somehow escaped their dorm building and went running around the campus. Jaune and Ren were barely able to retrieve her without Goodwitch finding them first.

"Should we stick together?" Pyrrha asked gesturing to team RWBY who were wandering off on their own.

"I don't see why not." Jaune said and headed after them.

"Heads up, I spy four assholes at 1 o'clock." Nora said and Jaune glanced up to see Cardin leading his team uphill nearby. He couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about knowing they'd be nearby.

Alas he was determined to enjoy the day, so vowed to do his best to ignore them. As Jaune and the others began to gather their sap he found that it was almost therapeutic. He watched as the red sap slowly went down the side of the glass jar building up slowly and slowly till it almost spilled over.

Looking to the side however he was surprised to see Pyrrha crouched in front of her tree with what looked to be a scowl on her face. He could see that her jar was barely a quarter of the way full, tightening the lid on his own he set it down before walking over to her.

"Need some help there Pyrrha?" He asked softly as he crouched down next to her. He could see Pyrrha avoiding look at him as her cheeks went a little red.

Was she embarrassed?

"It's fine Jaune." She said and Jaune laughed softly which Pyrrha shot him a glare to which he held his hands up.

"I'm sorry you just reminded me of my sisters for a second there with how determined you are to getting it done by yourself." Her glare lightened at this.

"You have sisters?" She asked and Jaune coughed into his hand.

"Yup, they're annoying as one would expect. What about you Pyrrha? Now that I think about it I don't think I've ever asked if you had any siblings." Before she could answer however, someone started to scream. Jaune stood up with his hand already on Crocea Mors handle. Ren and Nora immediately run back to them as team RWBY gathered around each other as well.

Jaune narrowed his eyes as he saw Dove, Russel and Sky came running towards them as they yelled about a Grimm. Yang grabbed onto Russel before jerking him in front of her.

"What's going on!?" She shouted.

"Ursa! It has Cardin!" He said as he tried to pry himself out of Yang's grip.

"And you left him alone?" Jaune asked and Russel seemed to pause before resuming in his effort to break out of Yang's grip. The taller blonde girl let him go then looked towards Ruby.

"Ren, Nora go get Goodwitch. Pyrrha you're with me." Jaune said evenly as he drew Crocea Mors. Ren and Nora didn't hesitate as they took off in the direction that Goodwitch was supposed to be. Ruby started calling out something as Jaune ran in the direction that Russel and the others had come from.

As Jaune was running he couldn't help but think if this was really the right idea? Cardin was a bully and a racist but did he deserve to be left alone to fight off the Grimm? Saving people was what Huntsmen did but what if the person that was in danger wasn't a good person.

Should they be left to die?

In warfare there was a certain level of acceptable loses, people were expected to get hurt or killed. Yet he didn't want that, he wanted to save people like in the tales of heroes but those tales never talked of saving someone that didn't deserve to be saved.

As he started to climb the hill he could hear someone yelling, it sounded like Cardin. Jaune gritted his teeth as he tried to run faster.

He couldn't help but think about his father, he was a stalwart man that seemed to always stick to some strange code.

Jaune wasn't sure but he knew it had a level of coldness to it that startled him. He could remember reading old reports during the Faunus Rights Revolution about some of the personal decisions his father made.

Razing whole villages that showed support to the Four Kingdoms while unleashing devastating firepower on the armies of the Four Kingdoms.

He executed Army Officers after capturing them without even giving them a chance but at the same time devoted whole regiments to protect Outland towns even when they were technically enemies. He would airlift food, medicine and clothes to villages in the Outlands that suffered in the fighting and lack of trade.

As he ran into a clearing he could see Cardin lying on the ground as a large Ursa Major loomed over him. Jaune didn't stop to think as he activated his shield then ran in without saying a single thing.

The Ursa seemed to stiffen as it sensed him but Jaune didn't give it the chance to turn around as he plunged Crocea Mors blade into the back of its right knee. The creature howled in pain as Jaune quickly pulled the blade out in a clockwise spin before slashing the left knee.

Crocea Mors sliced deep enough that the Ursai faltered in its movement. Jaune ran to its left to counter its attempt at turning right to face whoever attacked it. Jaune sent a thrust into what he assumed to be its ribcage, the Grimm roared again in anger before swiping backwards with a massive paw.

Jaune brought up his shield at an angle, despite the paw sliding off he was still forced back but mostly importantly the Ursai fell on its side with the lack of support. It attempted to roll towards him but Jaune jumped to the left then stabbed downwards towards the Grimm's skull.

However instead of trying to get out of the blade's way, the Ursa lunged forward with its two front paws slamming its head into Jaune surprising him. The blow from its head sent Jaune flying several feet back only for him to roll back to his feet.

Jaune looked to see the Ursa shifting its entire body to face him. While its movement was restricted its head-butt showed that it could still be dangerous.

Pyrrha on the other hand stood passively by as Jaune fought the Ursa, for some reason she felt it would be best to have Jaune save Cardin alone. As much as she would prefer to see the Grimm rip the detestable teen apart she knew Jaune would take it hard to have something like that happen.

"Pyrrha!? What's going on!?" A familiar voice called out, she turned to see Ruby and Weiss running up to her with their weapons drawn.

"I'm just watching Jaune beat this Ursa." She said simply Ruby frowned as she looked over to see Jaune fighting the injured Ursa Major with Cardin in a fetal position on the ground. She needed to get him out of danger as Jaune fought the Grimm, she made to move in his direction but Pyrrha held a hand up.

"Don't." The taller girl said and Ruby frowned.

"What are you doing? We need to help." Pyrrha nodded.

"Trust me, this is for the best." Pyrrha turned back to see Jaune slicing into the paw of the Ursa as it tried to swipe at him before ducking into its reach to bash the side of his shield against the Ursa's face as it tried to bite him.

With that he had the opening to thrust his sword into the side of the creature's neck before pushing down ripping the blade out through its black fur. The Ursa slumped to the ground, its head flopping loosely as only half of its neck was still attached.

Jaune was breathing deeply as he stared at the slowly dissolving body of the Ursa. Jaune then turned around to see Pyrrha standing next to Ruby and Weiss at the edge of the clearing. He nodded to them to let them know that the Ursa was dead.

Sighing he walked around the Ursa to see Cardin staring in a stunned silence at the corpse, he collapsed his shield back into a scabbard then sheathed his sword.

"Get up." Jaune said as he held his hand out. The larger teen took it as Jaune helped him up; Cardin was still staring at the Grimm corpse. Jaune couldn't help but notice that the larger teen seemed to have what looked to be red sap staining his chest plate.

"Thank you Jaune." The larger teen said in an almost dazed tone and Jaune tightened his grip of Cardin's hand drawing his attention.

"I want to lay this all out for you, so listen well. I think you're scum, a pathetic egotistical asshole with disgusting prejudices that bullies others like some low life thug. Yet here I am, protecting your life whereas others like your teammates did nothing. So I want to ask you this Cardin Winchester, do you want to be the person that comes to the rescue of others, a hero, or the one that's abandon to his fate due to his hateful beliefs, a unmarked tombstone. Think about the legacy you leave behind." Jaune said getting in Cardin's face then pushed him away, leaving Cardin to stare down at the Ursa. Jaune felt jittery, was it the adrenaline of the fight? He wasn't sure but he didn't care as it just left him in a foul mood.

"Jaune!? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked as he walked towards her, he let loose another long sigh.

"I'm fine and so is Cardin."

"I'm surprised you helped him." Weiss said and Jaune tilted his head a little.

"Is it?"

"I mean isn't this the guy that's essentially been bullying you for the last few weeks?" She asked and Jaune shrugged.

"True but that didn't really bother me though I think I did give him something to think about." He said as Goodwitch came into view with the rest of the class. Nora, Ren, Yang and Blake immediately zeroed in on them as Goodwitch demanded to know what happened at seeing the dissolving corpse of the Ursa.

After some time explaining what happened, Goodwitch ultimately ended the trip early then directed the class to head back to the Forever Fall station. Where they waited for the Bullheads to come then take them back to Beacon.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Jaune was walking back to his dorm room after he had turned in a handwritten report about what had happened during the trip in Forever Fall to Goodwitch.

"Jaune." A familiar voice called out and he froze as he knew who it was. Turning around he could see that it was Cardin Winchester, he frowned.

"Is there something you need?" He asked tersely and the taller teen nodded.

"I, look, this isn't easy for me but I wanted to say thank you." He said as he stared at the ground.

"There's nothing to thank for me for." Jaune said casually before turning around again.

"Wait." Cardin said raising his voice a little and Jaune turned to look at him.

"I'm trying to be sincere here Arc, I had some time to think about what happened in Forever Fall. About what you said to me and what I felt when I saw my own teammates leaving me behind." Jaune raised an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything.

"You're right to think I'm some pathetic loser because that's what I'm feeling about now as well. I've been careful to gauge how others see me as of late whenever I walk by and I can almost feel the burning disgust most of them have and that terrified me. I thought my grandfather was correct in his belief that Faunus were really just the scum of the world and that most of Humankind agreed with that sentiment but that's not the case. I even talked with my teammates asking to know what they really think." Cardin gave him a rueful smile.

"They don't even hate the Faunus. They just went along with what I was saying which might have made it even worse. This begs the question what's the greater evil, me in spouting my hatred for the Faunus or them being such weak spine sycophants to follow along with something that they don't believe in. I suppose it would be me since I'm the one that started it which then makes me think back to what you told me. I'm leaving a path of hate that others took up which than makes it worse." Cardin slammed a hand against a wall and Jaune could see the muscles in his jaw tighten as he gritted his teeth.

"I don't know what to do anymore." Jaune was honestly a little skeptical; a part of him understood that Cardin's world has taken a serious hit that affected his beliefs in a way. At the same time Jaune wasn't sure if Cardin was just using this as a ploy to catch him off guard further down the line.

"So what do you know?" Jaune finally asked.

"I know that I need to apologize to you." Jaune shook his head.

"I don't want your apology Cardin." The larger teen seemed crestfallen at hearing that so Jaune continued before he could respond.

"If you really want to make things right, not only to me but everyone else then I know of one person you can apologize to." Cardin tilted his head to the side.

"Who?"

"Velvet Scarlatina and you have to do it at lunch in front of everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Yes, it's the only way to show others that you want to change and for them to take you serious again. Velvet sometimes comes by our table now so be on the lookout as anywhere else she'll probably just avoid you since you've been a massive asshole to her." Cardin seemed to be thinking so Jaune took this as his cue to leave but he called out to him again.

"Jaune, wait I got one more question." Jaune turned to look at him.

"Why did you save me out there?"

"I thought I already told you?" Cardin shook his head, Jaune looked at up the roof as he closed his eyes remembering a conversation he had with his father when he was very young.

"Well I guess it's something to do with what my old man once said in regards to ideals. A Hero must not only protect the innocent and loved but protect those that are hated as well when it is right." Jaune said as he finally opened his eyes to look at him.

"Protecting those that are hated?" Cardin murmured to himself then looked at Jaune.

"I think I understand a little more now Jaune, thank you." He said reaching out his hand and as much as Jaune wanted to spit on it he took it as well.

As Cardin walked away he couldn't help but let a little frown slip out as he had no idea what was in the future for him. Jaune didn't think it should be that easy for someone to change so easily but maybe it had to do what he said about his grandfather.

Though that still didn't excuse him for the things he did or say. Jaune sighed, in the end it didn't matter what he thought of Cardin, if he could make a change for the better then there was nothing to think about.

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

"Well that was a thing." Yang was the first to say after the group witnessed Cardin bowing to Velvet in front of the entire cafeteria during his rather loud apology.

Jaune was a little relieved to see that Cardin had actually gone through with it since he had his doubts about whether he was serious or not about changing.

"You think he's lying?" Yang asked looking around the table but most of the group merely shrugged.

"I don't know what to think but I know that apologizing in front of everyone like that means it would be hard to turn back and save face at the same time." Ren said.

"I think it's great to see Cardin apologize to Velvet, it means he's going to be a good person now." Ruby said.

"Just because he apologized to Velvet it doesn't mean he's a good person." Blake said and Weiss nodded with her.

"She's right Ruby, change doesn't come easy."

"No it doesn't but we shouldn't be dwelling on that, if he's trying to become a good person we should welcome him with open arms." Ruby said and Weiss snorted in a very unladylike manner.

"If you wanna hug Cardin then be my guest."

"Uh, Ruby isn't going to hug anyone till she's married." Yang chimed in.

"That doesn't make any sense." Jaune said but the blonde girl just glowered at him and he held his hands up.

"Look, I talked to Cardin and I was the one to suggest to him to apologize to Velvet. I think if he's actually listened to me then we can give him some slack for the time being." Jaune said.

"Wow Jaune, I didn't think you were so quick to forgive people." Weiss said and Jaune shook his head.

"Look there's a difference between forgiving and forgetting. I can forget about it if he's trying to be a better person but I don't have to forgive him for what he's done already."

"That seems pretty fair to me." Pyrrha said jumping in on the conversation.

"To think if Cardin is so easily changed then what's the point of the White Fang? They make it sound like we're incapable of change so that justifies their terroristic violence." Weiss said as she went back to eating her food and Jaune could practically see a vein pop out on Blake's forehead before asking for a thorough explanation for what she meant. Jaune sighed as he rubbed his temples with both hands.

"I can already feel that this is going to be a headache."

* * *

 **Going from one to problem to another there Jauney boy.**

 **So this chapter took a while since I had to write the second half on the fly as I did the main section.**

 **Though that's all really just an excuse because I got distracted by reading Manga, which on a side note Goblin Slayer is a good read once you get over the occasional Goblin rape scene.**

 **Oh and finally I watched Volume 4, which I gotta say I don't exactly get what people are hating on it and Volume 5 though admittedly I haven't seen that yet but I'll get to it at some point.**

 **Also this is technically the end of the Chapter so you can read the portion past this point or just skip all the way to the bottom as it doesn't technically have anything to due with the plot that concerns Jaune.**

* * *

 **Arcadian A.A.R**

 **Author: First Lieutenant Donald Jacobsen**

 **Time of Report: 1630, November 1st, 2032 A.D.**

 **Afflicted Area: Irkalla Provence**

 **Participants: Arcadian 3** **rd** **, 5** **th** **, 6** **th** **Field Armies, Arcadian Army Corp of Enginseers, Arcadian Air Force, Sisterhood, Praetorian Legion.**

 **Enemy Combatants: Ruinous Powers and Creatures of Grimm.**

 **Initial Date of Incident: September 16** **th** **, 2032 A.D.**

The purpose of this After Action Report is to establish a preliminary timeline of events that started in the early morning of September 16, 2032 at 0530.

This A.A.R will however not touch upon the Grimm attacks that occurred in the surrounding Provinces. The distinction between the Ruinous Powers and those Grimm attacks is clear within the Arcadian High Council.

On September 16th of this year at roughly 0530 Lieutenant General Sigrus and his 12th Corp, placed to defend Irkalla was attacked by a large mixed force of the Ruinous Powers which will be known as a Great Host or simply the Host.

The initial onslaught, from the surprisingly large enemy force, took Sigrus by surprise. This Great Host was later revealed to be roughly a hundred thousand strong infantry force with at least five thousand AT70 Reaver Battle Tanks, two thousand AT83 Brigand Super Tanks and four thousand STeG 4s.

All of the classifications of the names for the enemy tanks come from Canoness Superior Sanian who spoke of a place called Urdesh. There are no known accounts in regard to that name as such the assessment of this place is, for the time being, is irrelevant to Arcadia.

 **Note to Reader:** For the sake of imagination in this story think of the AT70 Reaver Battle Tank as something like the Russian T-55. The AT83 Brigand Super Tank for all intents and purposes is the shitty cousin of the Macharius Heavy Tank however it only has 1 Battle Cannon and a front hull mounted Heavy Stubber. That being said while it's shitty in comparison to the Imperial Guard Heavy Tanks it proves to be a challenge to standard or the Main Battle Tanks that Arcadia fields which means it'll be able to take on the Predator and Tempest Class Tanks even in a 3 on 1 situation. The Sicaran however will be able to go 1 on 1 against it with ease. The STeG 4 on the other hand for a lack of a better model think of it as the BTR-80 that uses either a twin linked 14.7mm Heavy Machine Gun or 25mm Autocannon, cheap, easy to make but also easy to kill as it's weak armor can only stand against small arms fire and a few hits from shoulder mounted rockets. However its use as a Light Armored Infantry Support Vehicle would show it's capable due to the numbers that can be put on the field.

The Ryre Stronghold, located in the center of the Arcadian Northern Lines came under heavy assault. There the large stone fortress loomed over miles of trenches and bunker complexes that covered the south bank of Ryre River that came down from the White Peaks. Along with the full strength of the 56th Division under the direct command of Lieutenant General Sigrus.

In the cover of night with the added bonus of the first snowfall of the season the Enemy made their first move.

Thousands of Chaos Warriors crossed the Ryre River along with advance teams of Chaos Space Marines which had apparently already made their way onto the south bank.

The Chaos Warriors however did not understand the strength of the foe they sought to kill. As such they had no idea what to do when they wandered into the minefield that had been dug into the bank of the river by the 56th Division.

The numerous unexplained explosions took them by surprise and the Arcadian defenders who up to that point didn't know they were there immediately woke to face whatever threat that had set the mines off.

Alas the Chaos Space Marines were far more intelligent on the sort of soldiers they faced. They were able to reach the trenches with relative ease as their simple plated brethren were blown apart.

Once in the trenches the slaughter began, the Arcadian soldiers had expected Grimm to be their enemy but when bolter fire thundered and the sounds of chain weapons roared in the night. They realized how dangerous the situation was.

As the Chaos Space Marines slaughtered the Arcadian soldiers, observers that were relatively unmolested by the traitorous Marines saw the Chaos Warriors finally clear the minefield by simply charging through regardless of the danger.

Soon enough the trenches and bunkers are swarming with large plated warriors and pockets of soldiers fighting desperately against the foe.

In the stronghold, the Arcadian forces began pelting the northern bank of the Ryre River with their Serpent Infantry Guns and Lancer Field Guns as salvos from Chaos cannons and armor began to bombard the trenches and stronghold walls.

Hundreds of soldiers manned the ramparts and closed the main gates on the north side as Sigrus roused his tank crews in order to field as much armor as he quickly could.

What would later be identified as Traitor Guardsmen that made up the bulk of the Chaos army would push across the river at several points as the 56th was distracted by their struggled to clear their trenches.

Armor formations accompanying them quickly drove to surround the stronghold; the mass of tanks added to the fire that pummeled the walls and gates.

The tanks of the 56th Division tried to rise and meet the challenge but most of the tank depots were located in bunker complexes along the lines, which subsequently were destroyed by the rampaging Chaos Marines.

The few tanks residing within the Ryre Stronghold were unable to make a push outward as the waiting Chaos armor picked them off by their weight of fire.

Sigrus at this point had sent out reports to his Division Commanders, letting them know that the 56th was in dire trouble. Avagisa, his most senior Division Commander, was the first one he contacted; she would rouse three of her regiments to move to his aid.

It would be too late as the fortress was brought down, not by the soldiers and tanks that scoured the trenches or fields surrounding it.

Instead it was reported that Chaos Marines were the ones that would kill Sigrus and break the Ryre Stronghold. These Marines were Legionnaires of old, ones that excelled in infiltration.

As of the creation of this report, it would be clear that these were members of the 8th Legion.

The Night Lords.

The Night Lords would make their way into the heart of the stronghold where they found Sigrus and his command staff that were desperately holding the defenders together. None of the room's occupants would survive that encounter.

The Traitor Legionnaires reportedly also turned on the stronghold's P.A. speakers as they flayed their captives alive this was the final nail in the coffin for the 56th.

Soon enough the Traitor Legionnaires turned their sight on the other defenders. Previously placed Melta bombs were triggered and a number of explosions rocked the stronghold from the inside, in the confusion the Traitor Legionnaires made their move against the defenders.

These warriors of legend butchered the defenders before making a beeline towards one of the stronghold gates. Killing any who stood in their way they opened the gates wide for the waiting Chaos forces. At that point the Ryre Stronghold fell to the enemy.

The few shattered battalions or regiments left alive outside of the stronghold fled south as the forces of Chaos butchered and raped everyone in sight.

With Sigrus's death in the center along with the rout of the 56th Division the entire 12th Corp was left with their center exposed. Before Major General Avagisa, the most senior officer in the 12th Corp could plug the gap left by the shattered 56th with her 57th. The rest of the line was attacked, to the west the 60th Division was taken by surprise when Chaos Warriors appeared far too close to their lines without them noticing.

The seasoned Chaos veterans forced their way into the trenches, Sangars, pillboxes and other defensive fighting positions. Caught in tight spaces with the expert melee fighters the Arcadian infantry was forced southward from their positions after brutal close quarter combat.

In the Center, Avagisa deployed her 57th with a few straggler units from the 56th that rallied to hold out at Fort Ebbing which covered the northern roads that connect Helvisk with the now former Northern Line.

Helvisk at this point is also alerted to the breached frontlines. As such Province Lord Alfred Jeremiah deployed the Helvisk Garrison northward to support the 12th Corp.

So he sent the entire Helvisk Garrison Regiment along with the Garrison's company of tanks towards Fort Ebbing.

Skirmishes would resume in a few hours as a vanguard force of Chaos Armor and Light Infantry probed the line of the 57th but was pushed back. As the additional firepower from Fort Ebbing, which was ready for an attack, proved that the Arcadians were still not out of the fight at this point.

To the east Avagisa took direct command of the 59th Division as it went to support the 58th which found itself in a fierce fight against the more modern Chaos Light Infantry.

While initial reports made it appear that they were mostly wearing odd mismatched uniforms and unfamiliar solid shot weapons they were quickly found to be something to be concerned about.

As despite their ragged appearance, the enemy wasn't mindless nor did they lack sufficient armored support as they had cheap but relatively effective tanks along with the support of Chaos Marines.

It should be said that out of all the Divisions of the 12th Corp, the 58th had been the one to react first which let them come out relatively fine all things considered.

Major General Ian Tanet pulled his Division back immediately by regiments. He had the 189th and 190th Line Infantry Regiments to move south while having his 186th and 188th Armored Regiments draw attention as rearguard in a series of tank battles.

The combined regiments lost a total of 62 Tempest tanks, 47 Predators and 3 Sicaran Tanks to the Enemy Armor. While having a confirmed 97 AT70 kills, 116 STeG 4 kills and 14 AT83 Brigand kills.

The 187th Heavy Infantry which also stayed to support them had also held back several infantry battalions that tried to bypass the armor fight. Despite taking heavy losses to the numerically superior foe they were able to hold out long enough for the order for withdrawal to be given for the 186th and 188th Armor.

The 186th and 188th would provide cover as they made their way to the wetlands where the 189th and 190th had already taken up new positions.

At this point the entire province along with the Sharlor, Argus, and Lemavi Provinces were made aware of the general situation. Reserve Artillery Companies are pulled forward to begin raining shells on known or last seen enemy positions near the now abandoned Northern Line as most of the previous Artillery companies were either killed or forced to leave behind their weapons.

Enginseer Brigades immediately began constructing new trenches and defensive fortifications for the retreating 12th Corp to reoccupy against the advancing Enemy. Avenger and Corsair Squadrons were prepped for combat then sent airborne to slow down the advance of the enemy.

Over the next sixteen hours, the remaining Divisions of the 12th Corp have finally stopped retreating south. In the western lowlands the 60th Division took up position on the south side of the Farnram River. On the northern side were the twin fortresses Yarlmouth and Falmouth which began a long range artillery duel with the Enemy.

While in the eastern wetlands the 59th and 58th bunkered down as much as they can but the cold weather mixed with terrain of the wetlands made it difficult to establish a proper defensive line without the proper tools or experience of Army Enginseers that had yet to reach them.

It will be some time later that the High Lord in Falias is made aware of the escalating situation.

The twin Fortresses on the Farnram River would soon be destroyed. The Chaos warriors had broken the defenses of the Arcadian Fortresses; no one is sure how exactly that happened.

Current speculations lead us to believe that the Chaos Warriors received aid from the Traitor Legionnaires that had destroyed the Ryre Stronghold.

The 60th Division would be forced to brace in its position on the south bank of the Farnram River for the inevitable enemy advancement.

The Chaos Warriors would bring up their infernal weapons which began pelting the south bank. These large strange cannons are reported to glow malevolently before firing incandescent balls of power that emit the screams of what can be described as those of the dying as they soar through the air before impact.

The range, accuracy and firepower of the 60th Division's tanks proved to be almost if not more than equal in deadliness of the Enemy's cannons.

The Farnram River itself also proved to be a useful tool in stalling the advance of the enemy. While the Chaos Warriors were expert foes in close quarter combat, at range it soon became apparent that the Arcadian Forces made up that difference.

Over the next seven hours the 60th Division would beat back half a dozen major charges that the Chaos Warriors tried, resulting in thousands of their ilk to perish under withering gunfire.

At the eight hour mark that would be the time that the 41st and 42nd Division from Lieutenant General MaRaul's 9th Corp will arrive to support the 60th Division.

The two Divisions would have arrived just in time to assist in the seventh charge which will be the most dangerous at that point as Daemonic Cavalry riding atop Juggernauts would make their appearance.

It's with these that the Chaos Forces are finally able to make it across multiple points along with southern bank; Tempest Tanks immediately depart from the battle line to hunt down the breaching Cavalry.

This leaves a noticeable lack of firepower for the defending infantry against the following Chaos Warriors that charged after the Cavalry.

The Chaos Warriors will be able to get into contact with the new frontlines of the Arcadian Army. Casualties will be high as the Arcadian Infantry try to contend with the full plate armored warriors.

The 60th Division's Commanding Officer, Major General Valamir Sreten, would call artillery and air support practically on top of his lines. The subsequent bombardment from several artillery companies and a squadron of Avenger Strike Fighters would take a deadly toll on the Chaos Warriors finally pushing them back.

However he would have lost half a dozen companies from the fighting with them along with another two companies worth of injuries from the friendly bombardments. Whether or not this was the right decision will be reviewed at a later time by an independent committee.

MaRaul's 43rd and 44th Divisions would also make it to the eastern wetlands.

There Avagisa and Tanet were dealing with a dozen separate infantry skirmishes and two major tank battles. The casualties were piling up against them as aside from the wetlands themselves there is no major fortification to protect their soldiers.

The 189th Line Infantry was down to two half strength battalions, while the 190th was still at half strength. Tanet's 186th Armor was stretched thin covering Avagisa's 182th Line Infantry's right flank as it covered the 187th Heavy Infantry's retreat after breaking under several hit and run charges from STeG 4s.

Avagisa at the same time was trying to push her 181st Heavy Infantry along with her 183rd and 184th Line forward to retake the Grey Oak Hills that separated the wetlands from the central portion of Irkalla after they were forced off it.

The 44th would send its 217th, 218th and 219th Line Infantry Regiments in support of Avagisa's push while having the 220th Armor support the 185th Armor as it splits two of its Battalions to swing far westward around the Grey Oak Hills.

While having Colonel Mezei Kata's 216th Heavy Infantry move to relieve the over stretched 186th Armor from protecting the 182nd Line Infantry.

Major General Anzelm Kasper of the 43rd Division however thought of a plan to cut off the Enemy's reinforcements by deploying his 211th, 212th, and 213th Paratrooper Regiments.

He wanted them to drop down on the north side of the Grey Oak Hills. While sending his 214th Heavy Infantry to reinforce Avagisa's assault on the Grey Oak Hills and 215th Armor Regiment to assist the 220th and 185th as they swing around to the west to then cut off the northern side of the hills to the enemy.

Kasper draws upon as many Valkyries and Telamon Transports that the Air Force could spare. At the end of the day he would get enough aircraft to transport all three of his Paratrooper Regiments at the same time.

At 0100 the next day the initial vanguard force that High Lord Alexander put together would be ready to move northward. However at the last second he would change his orders by having several Heavy Weapon's Companies and six Enginseer Battalions to begin digging out new positions south of the current battle line.

The primary goal of this was to set up a rear fortified position for the 9th and 12th Corp to rest as they're switched off the lines. As such the 3rd Field Army was given orders to start deploying into the Irkalla Province; General Litvinovich began preparations to quickly fill the gaps made from the 9th and 12th Corp when the orders to pull back were given.

In the meantime however it is at this point that Champion Aeyr Forianus arrives with a Cohort of the Praetorian Legion. The thousand strong Praetorian force led by the venerable Champion immediately split up.

Two Centuriae were placed in the three fronts with orders to not only protect the two Corp Commanders but also the Division and Regiment Commanders as well.

Though that's not to say the Praetorians didn't take an active role in the fighting, while some were attached to the various commanders. Others went out onto the front lines battling effectively against both the Chaos Warriors but the Traitor Guard Units as well.

With the numerous skirmish victories that the Praetorians were racking up it's at this time more specialized Chaos Forces appeared. Namely groups of Pontifex Guards moved to check the appearance of the Praetorians.

The heavy shields, carapace armor and Power Weapons wielded by these fanatical warriors also signaled that things were getting heated on the front.

On the dawn of the seventh day since the start of the Irkalla Siege, General Elya Litvinovich finally was ready to deploy her Field Army to replace the battered 9th and 12th Corp.

At this point the defensive battle line on the south side of the Farnram River was bending under the weight of the Chaos Warriors. Multiple points of the river were no longer recognizable due to the bodies and destruction that twisted the landscape.

In the center, Fort Ebbing had a dozen points along its northern wall that were stressed to near collapse. Not to mention the increase of tank skirmishes that slowly drained the Arcadian Armored elements as they kept the Chaos Forces from growing too big.

In the east, Avagisa had finally taken hold of the Grey Oak Hills but her grasp was tentative. As the regiments tasked with cutting the northern sections off from the main body of the Chaos Forces had essentially been trapped under the weight of fire of two deadly forces before being forced to be a wall to crush the Chaos Infantry that had occupied the Grey Oak Hills.

With a loss of more than a third of the Paratroopers along with a quarter of their Armor, Line and Heavy Infantry reinforcements. It proved to make it a difficult task to defend the Hills as thousands of red cladded soldiers of the Enemy attacked their positions with light artillery and armor.

On top of that the weather was turning from bad to worse; a lot of the soldiers on the Frontline didn't have the proper kits to weather the harsh storms. Nor did they have the enough shelters to house the amount of exposed soldiers that were in the field.

Along with that the cold weather would freeze a lot of the water in the eastern wetlands and the western lowlands making it easy to traverse the otherwise natural barriers that had helped keep the Enemy out.

At the same time it may have also prove to be a helpful respite from the Chaos Forces as the snow storms would make it difficult for even them to mount a proper offensive.

Army Strategists surmised that they had two options, risk continuing the Offensive in hopes they can quickly break the Arcadian defenders or retreat back beyond the former frontlines. The same ones that had been thoroughly bombed by the Arcadian Air Force and Artillery Companies to the point that they were useless to shelter in.

Canoness Superior Sanian would also arrive to bolster the Elite Forces of the Province with the full force of Canoness Preceptors Gellea, Vennolla, Palena, and Sabisma. This put four thousand warriors of the Sisterhood in the Province.

At the same time General Litvinovich was deploying her Field Army with the pain staking task of replacing the two battered Corps with her 5th and 6th Corps. In the next thirty six hours the 3rd Field Army would be in position to withstand both the storm and the potential Chaos Assault.

It never came, as the snow storms had started even earlier, covering the land in a blanket of white and freezing the almost every source or body of water in the Province.

With that respite, the Arcadian Forces began digging into their current positions. It wouldn't be until a week later when the snow storms died down that the Arcadians figured out what happened.

The Chaos Forces had up to that point attempted to take shelter in the shattered trenches and fortifications of the Arcadian Northern Line. Alas as expected, many of their soldiers who were not equipped to handle the cold let alone the snow storms perished.

Strategists have conferred that the most likely scenario had been that Chaos forces decided to head back to the White Peaks after suffering dreadful losses due to the climate.

General Litvinovich would take the initiative by advancing her 5th Corp along with several Artillery Battalions, a dozen Army Enginseer Brigades, along with volunteer elements of the 6th, 9th, and 12th Corp. All in order to reoccupy then fortify the shattered Northern Lines.

Champion Aeyr would also press forward with the Praetorian Cohort he had under his command while Preceptors Gellea and Sabisma would accompany the 5th Corp's advance.

High Lord Alexander would also send an additional Praetorian Cohort. In addition he would send another six Divisions from the 10th and 11th Corps to bolster the forces in the Province.

Four days will pass without incident before two Armor Skirmishes will occur, though these will in fact occur behind the reoccupied Northern Line.

Two Enemy Armor formations containing a mix of STeG 4s and AT70 Reavers would ambush several supply convoys. Along with destroying three Artillery Companies that were being shifted towards the front before a flight of Vultures could arrive on scene to chase them off.

The 5th Corp would dispatch the 25th Division's, 123rd Mechanized Regiment and 124th Armored Regiment to hunt down the two Armor Formations. This would take roughly half a day before they're able to engage the enemy which they would destroy to the last machine.

At this point the fighting in the Province was all but done at that point; Army Enginseer Battalions were working around the clock to bring the Northern Line back to functionality. While the 6th Corp took up temporary position even further to prevent another attack from hitting the Enginseers as they worked on the shattered Northern Line.

Over the next week, roughly a third of the trench systems have been repaired to an adequate level that Army Units were able to take position in them.

Alas the rest of the trench systems, bunker complexes, motor pools, artillery pits, and other defensible positions were far from usable. In addition to that the Ryre Stronghold, the Warden Stronghold in the western section of the front, and the Blackstone Stronghold in the east were all effectively in ruins.

Most of the walls had been knocked down with their weapon platforms destroyed or looted. Internal supplies were ransacked or torched with corridors and barrack rooms smashed to the point of inaccessibly.

Worst of all was the belief that before they destroyed the main keeps; the Enemy had rummaged through for whatever intelligence they could get their hands on.

It was at this point that storm clouds appeared over the White Peaks, Specialists among the Praetorians and Sisterhood confirmed that its origins were from the Ether.

The 3rd Field Army consolidated its forces as forward observers reported seeing the Chaotic Neverborn in the distance. Many of those observers went mad and had to be put down as there was no time to deal with their tortured screaming as the Neverborn marched at the head of the Chaos Host.

As the Archenemy of Man closed the distance to the waiting 3rd Field Army, all Arcadian assets within the Province were directed towards the front. Including the recovering battered units of the 9th and 12th Corp.

The rest of the Sisterhood would also march to join them along with the arrival of a large Knight Cadre that was sent under the instruction of Forge Master Rosenstock.

The Knight Cadre contained a two Knight Paladins, two Knight Errants, a Knight Crusader, a Knight Warden along with two Helverin and Warglaive Knights.

At the head of the Chaos Army was at least a ten thousand strong force of Bloodletters, at their head however was something that gave pause to even Champion Forianus and Canoness Superior Sanian.

As the three towering figures of Bloodthirsters were at the head of even the Bloodletters as they made their way to the Arcadians.

It was at this point however that the Grimm made their appearance. As the Arcadian Artillery Batteries, Avengers and Corsairs began bombarding the enemy army, the Creatures of Grimm charged to flanks of the Chaos Host.

This took up a lot of their attention just as it did the Arcadians who had to hold back numerous packs of Beowolves, Ursai, Death Weavers, King Taijitus, Death Stalkers, Goliaths and Nevermores.

Though it didn't stop the Host from attacking the Arcadians as well as it seemed the Neverborn of the Blood God were particular eager at this predicament.

It's at this point that for all intents and purposes that proper reporting of the battle is difficult to manage or organize from what we know.

The western lines would be assailed by the Grimm. The 5th Corp which had its 21st, 22nd and 23rd Division there were able to hold them despite several dozen skirmishes within the trenches as packs of Beowolves, Death Weavers and Ursai were able to make it into them.

Several hundred Goliaths, Death Stalkers and King Taijitus would be engaged by the Arcadian Armor. At least 103 Tempest Tanks, 84 Predators and 3 Sicarans would be destroyed or knocked out of combat by the combined strength of the large Grimm creatures.

As for Infantry, at least several battalions worth of soldiers were killed or injured by the first wave of rampaging creatures. More may have died had the wave not been broken by a detachment of Sisterhood warrior along with a Knight Warden, Helverin and a Warglaive.

In the east the 6th Corp's 28th, 29th and 30th Divisions was exchanging fire with the Chaos Forces. The smoke and dirt kicked up from the numerous destroyed armor and explosions would darken the sky and make it hard to see or even breathe for anyone without a helmet on.

At least 115 Tempest Tanks, 105 Predators and 7 Sicaran tanks would be destroyed or crippled by the enemy. Whereas the Arcadian Forces would get a confirmed 234 STeG 4 kills, 156 AT70 Reavers and 48 AT83 Brigand kills within the first hour of fighting.

On the infantry side once more it was a blood bath. The combined Light and Heavy Infantry Regiments of the three Divisions suffered under the combined assault of the Chaos Warriors, soldiers, Pontifex Guard and a few thousand Bloodletters.

Taking into account the casualty reports of the three Divisions, they lost a combined total of 8,000 soldiers along with another 2,700 wounded with 1,400 that went unaccounted for after the battle ended.

The reasoning behind this pressure is due to the speculation that with the arrival of the Grimm, the Host's formation shifted sending a larger than anticipated portion of its forces into the waiting 6th Corp's Divisions.

Alas no confirmation can be made as many of the Avenger, Lightning, Vulture, Corsairs and Valkyrie assets were needed in close proximity to the Arcadian lines.

It's here however that the first major loss for the Praetorians and Sisterhood contingents is seen. After the Bloodletters pushed deep into the 147th Line Infantry's position slaughtering them then routing one of its Battalions.

A joint group of seven hundred sisters along with three full Centuriae would move to hold the gap till the 147th could shift additional companies from its other three battalions to fill the gap.

The Bloodletters would continue to press this weakened section, which if it fell would easily mean that they along with STeG 4s and other light infantry that were supporting them could roll up the flanks of the Arcadian defenders.

Thankfully they were able to hold the Bloodletters at bay but at severe cost to their own. As 72 Praetorians would get killed with another 27 injured to the point of no longer being able to stand. As for the Sister 217 of them were killed along with 157 wounded to the point that they could no longer fight.

It was the arrival of the other Helverin and Warglaive along with one of the Knight Errants that kept the Bloodletters from breaking through long enough for two Companies from the 147th and six restructured full strength companies from the 12th Corp's 57th Division to reinforce the position.

In the center however was the heaviest fighting. As it was a three way fight between the Creatures of Grimm, the Ruinous Powers and between them the Arcadian Defenders.

There the 24th, 25th Divisions of the 5th Corp along with the 26th and 27th Division of the 6th Corp stood side by side. Along with them was the rest of the Knight Cadre, the Sisterhood contingent led by Canoness Superior Sanian and Champion Forianus with the Praetorians.

For them most of the fighting was centered on the ruins of the Ryre Stronghold. There the Sisterhood and Praetorians stood amidst the shattered walls defending both the battlements and breaches from the encroaching mass of Grimm or Chaos Forces.

It should also be noted that one of the Bloodthirsters would have fallen earlier, not by Arcadian soldiers but by the Grimm. Reports have it that the Greater Daemon fell under the onslaught of a dozen Death Stalkers.

The other two however kept their attention on the Arcadian Defenders. There Champion Forianus and Canoness Superior Sanian would engage them along with two Knight Paladins and the second Knight Errant.

Eight Great Companies along with a dozen Chaos Infantry Companies in conjunction with Bloodletters would try to break the lines to the west between the 24th and 25th Divisions. While two dozen packs of Beowolves and Ursai used the confusion to slip past the battle lines.

Reserve Forces made up from the remaining units of the 9th Corp along with the Knight Crusader were able to lock down most of the Grimm Packs in order for Flights of Avenger Strike Fighters to eliminate them.

That being said many of those Grimm Packs did cause some serious damage to Artillery and Enginseer Companies that were behind the frontlines.

Going back to the center, as the 24th and 25th was pressured by Chaos Warriors. The Praetorians and Sisterhood warriors holding the flanks of the 25th and 26th Division were pressed hard by the Bloodletters.

The Praetorians would lose about two hundred and fifty of their ilk while the Sisterhood lost another four hundred of their warriors. The Knight Errant "Steel Endeavor" would be crippled by one of the Bloodthirsters.

Reportedly Sanian and a Knight Paladin would take advantage of the situation by attacking the Greater Daemon as the crippled Errant would hold onto the Greater Daemon with its Thunderstrike Gauntlet keeping it from turning to face them.

Though the Greater Daemon would rip the arm off the Errant then use it to nearly beat the other Paladin to death. Sanian would be able to land a strike which left the Bloodthirster blind in one eye before cutting off its head.

With the death of the second Bloodthirster, the Chaos forces seemed to go into an unusual panic. The final Bloodthirster would gather most of the remaining Bloodletters around it before making a straight line towards the Praetorian and Sisterhood position in the Ryre Stronghold.

With its attention focused on them Litvinovich, under orders from Champion Forianus, would divert as many air assets that she could muster to bomb the Bloodthirster and Bloodletters once they were locked in combat in the Ryre stronghold.

As the Chaos Daemons slowly pushed their way into the ruined stronghold baying for the blood of the defenders, Litvinovich made her move. Above them three Avenger Flights led two Squadrons of Corsairs with an additional Lightning squadron that would keep Nevermores and Lancers at bay as they began bombing both the Ryre Stronghold along with a two mile radius around it.

Subsequently the Ryre Stronghold was almost completely obliterated taking with it the last Bloodthirster and most of the Bloodletters.

The accompanying Knight Paladin within the walls did end up getting damaged by the bombardment but most the Praetorians and Sisterhood warriors were able to stomach the bombardment by taking shelter within the main Keep.

There the Praetorians had been holding the key chokepoints leading into the main Keep as the Sisters fired down upon the Bloodletters.

With the death of the final Bloodthirster, the remaining Bloodletters fled north only to disappear leaving the Host behind. Which had already taken a beating due to fighting both the Grimm and Arcadians as such they began a fighting retreat with the Grimm as they headed back north.

The Arcadians would still have to deal with the Creatures of Grimm. The eastern flank was freed up totally as the Chaos Forces withdrew.

As such they were able to send four Infantry Regiment and six Tank Battalions westward to provide help to the beleaguered 5th Corps 21st, 22nd and 23rd Divisions which were still fighting.

The fighting would die down over the next two days, on the third day since the start of the battle with the Chaos Host led by the Neverborn and the Grimm Litvinovich would declare victory.

The Irkalla Province was now once more firmly in Arcadia's hands.

So began the restoration effort to repair the crippled Province. The 9th and 12th Corps would be transferred back to Nyseion while the Argus, Sharlor and Lemavi forces were told to stand down as well.

Canoness Superior Sanian and Champion Forianus would leave their forces within the Irkalla as they travelled back to Falias to report to the High Lord. The bulk of the 5th Corp would be stationed back in the southern portions of Irkalla in case they were need as the 6th Corp guarded the Enginseer Corp as it began the painstaking effort to restore the defensives of the Northern Line.

It should be noted that even up to writing this A.A.R that the expected date of completion is still fourteen months away before the Northern Line is considered to be at full strength.

The reason for this is in order to actually begin reconstruction the first step the Enginseer Corps has to do is clean up the mess of shattered stonework and trenches.

At the same time this doesn't take into account the numerous Strongholds that were severely damaged or destroyed in the fighting. These alone would take at least four to six months to clean, repair and rearm.

Overall all the Northern lines, needs construction materials such as metal or concrete for bunkers, wall repairs and Dragon's teeth. Along with the need for wood, razor wire, sandbags for defensive fighting positions such as trenches.

There's also the need for more weapons that needed to be delivered to them such as the Lancer Field Cannons, Sabre platforms, Serpent Infantry Guns, Goliath Artillery pieces, Earthshaker, Manticore systems, Hydra platforms. This also comes with the task of organizing the right materials that would be needed as spare parts.

The numerous Four Year Plans put into place at the start of the last century proved to be a wonderful boon as the production during those times kept the Arcadian in a significant surplus of both civilian and military materials.

Even with the significant amount of supplies to draw upon whenever needed, the time it would take to transfer the needed items is a serious time drain. As the cross Kingdom rail system had yet to come to completion. As such most of the materials had to either be flown or moved by vehicles.

Both of these methods had their advantages and disadvantages. Aerial transportation was quick but it had the drawbacks of only being able to carry so much weight while having a limited amount of aircraft that can do heavy lifting such as the Telamons.

As for ground transportation while anything can be transported it was slow and ponderous taking hours if not days to get the necessary amount of supplies from one Province to another.

Even the Rail System had its flaws of being fixated to one point only along with the possibility of major delays due to the countless miles of tracks that had to be maintained.

Going back to the original topic, it's not only construction materials and military equipment that needed to be replenished but manpower as well.

Aside from volunteer units within the 9th and 12th Corp until they are able to obtain enough recruits to replace their losses they'll be put off active duty for the foreseeable future.

The 12th Corp started with roughly a little more than 110,000 if taking into account Heavy Weapon crews and other logistical personnel. At the arrival of the 3rd Field Army, there were less than 65,000 active personnel physically capable of fighting with roughly 7,200 soldiers critically wounded.

As for the 9th Corp, of their initial 100,000 they would end up with less than 75,000 with another 5,400 soldiers with critical wounds.

Even the 3rd Field Army took some losses when they replaced the two Corps on the frontlines. Of the 200,000 thousand soldiers deployed into the Irkalla Province they would end up only having 172,000 left standing with 4,800 wounded.

This isn't taking into account for the status of the various armored vehicles and tanks attached to these Corps. Many of them need new armor plates, parts for their treads, fuel and other worn down internal components.

While many more just need to be replaced as they were lost in the fighting, though a number of them could be salvaged if given extensive repair time.

The same goes for the Air Force assets within the Irkalla Provence. At least five dozen Valkyries were lost in the fighting, along with four dozen Vultures, three dozen Avengers, with a dozen Lightnings and Corsairs as well.

With all of this taken into account the general reconstruction, repair, recruitment, along with rearmament has the estimated time of completion being anywhere from one and a half to two years.

Army High Command has also submitted the proposal of deploying additional Army Units into Irkalla in order to push the Northern Line closer to the White Peaks.

Their goal is to establish a new Northern Line to take the pressure off the Army Corp of Enginseers as they repair the current non-operational Northern Line. As any further attacks will only serve to increase the time to completion.

This proposal was struck down however as to advance the Northern Line would require a large Forward Operating Base for such a task which the only position capable of handling that would have the current Northern Line.

So if to establish a new Northern Line requires the current Northern Line to be useable then there's no point in pushing forward. At the same time to construct a whole new Northern Line would require a proper survey of the land to set it down in the first place before acquiring the necessary resources to start from nothing.

With that being said Army High Command did get permission to push out with its current forces to create several temporary strong points past the Northern Lines. The purposes of these strongpoints are to serve both as preliminary warnings and distractions in case another attack comes.

Though the manpower for their construction must come from the Army Units sent out while the equipment is provided by the Enginseer Corp. As the Enginseers tasked to repairing the Northern Line have the higher priority.

As for the effect outside of the Irkalla Siege that some may have forgotten. Its neighboring provinces Sharlor, Lemavi and Argus were also attacked.

While they didn't face the Chaos Host, they encountered Grimm Hordes that were in the initial vicinity of the fighting which set them off into an agitated state making them attack our forces stationed in these Provinces.

Thankfully due to the quick decisions made by the High Lord additional Arcadian Army Units were sent to these Provinces in anticipation of something happening so damages were kept to a low.

In the end despite our victory we ended up having a crippled Province that's far more vulnerable than ever before. At the same time a serious blow that has been given to our Military Forces within Irkalla that will be felt in the months to come.

In the aftermath of the Battle, High Lord Alexander has also issued orders to the 1st and 2nd Field Armies to start shifting Divisions to the northern part of Nyseion in case another Chaos attack occurs.

At the same time the Army High Command in Falias has put forth the thought that we didn't actually destroy the Chaos Host. While they had a fighting retreat with the Creatures of Grimm, no one was able to confirm their destruction.

However it's argued that if the Chaos Host is still alive than it is in the White Peaks and would not be able to escape anywhere but to the south again. This would only lead them right back into the Army in Irkalla which would be expecting something like that alas this all speculation as to when the next attack will be.

With that said this A.A.R of Irkalla Siege that took place on September 16th, 2032 A.D. to October 1st, 2032 A.D. is now complete. Any additional information will be added on accordingly in regards to this event every eight weeks.

All questions or addendums must be directed to the Department of Army Logistics and Calculations for approval.

* * *

 **Now then you're probably wondering "Hey, why the fuck is this so long?" well dear reader it's because I'm trying something out something new. Just as the last time when I added a little information blob about the Army I decided "You know what? Let's add this in as the second half." which is kind of like a World Of Remnant/Me not wanting to write an Alexander part but still wanting some of the action that would come from it sort of thing.**

 **So go ahead and let me know you're interested in me doing more things like the information blob or recounting events that aren't necessarily tied to Jaune's experience like maybe a flashback in Alexander's mind of past battles or something along that line. Though I don't think I will do it for every chapter really just something to shake things up now and then.**

 **Anyways go ahead and leave a review if you like or didn't like this chapter. Also if you have anything you wanna say or ask me go ahead and ask if not than you can PM me cause I'm totally willing to talk things out as some of you already know.**

 **Till Next Time!**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Lilith Arc stood on the rooftop of a warehouse, below her; two dozen men in nondescript grey overalls were moving crates off a column of trucks. She could barely see them by the few yellow lamps that dotted the facility. To the south however she could see the lights of Vale on the horizon.

While normally a sight like men moving crates would be nothing special. The fact that they were moving these things in the middle of the night into a rundown warehouse while handling crates with the SDC logo on them would say otherwise.

"Ma'am, all units are in position." A voice buzzed in her ear and she tapped her ear piece.

"You may start Captain Hansen." Lilith said calmly as she sat down on the ledge of the rooftop then unzipped her jacket before reaching into pull out a plastic wrapped sandwich. As she began to unwrap it, multiple dull snaps could be heard in the distance before the sound of a box clattering on the ground as it was dropped was heard from below.

The people below began to panic as gunfire snapped at them; Lilith could see several men jerk once or twice as they were hit before falling to the ground. As expected the rest scattered, most however went back into the warehouse.

What they didn't know was that Lilith had her men already breach the other side of the warehouse, killing the paltry guards that had been posted there.

She could hear screaming inside as more gunshots snapped out rapidly inside the warehouse. She however just continued sitting there eating the rest of her sandwich, uncaring for the deaths below her.

"Ma'am." Hansen reported.

"Yes Captain?"

"Four trucks are approaching from the southeast; my scouts are reporting that they've got White Fang members in them."

"Mop up the survivors Captain then get your rangers set up to ambush the trucks as well. I already have Dobson and Kalen disguised to greet our Faunus friends." Lilith said as she reached behind her for a thermos she had been carrying with her.

"Roger that Ma'am." As she was about to pour her cup of coffee, something tickled her mind and she realized that something was off about this.

So she packed up her thermos and zipped her jacket up after tucking it away. As she was about to walk away from the ledge, she stooped down to pluck her dagger out from the neck of the man that had been on the roof before her.

Making her way down she was greeted by Umbra Praetorian Varah. The Praetorian was encased in the black plated power armor of her kin; the only distinguishing mark was the red skull on her right pauldron.

She nodded to the Praetorian but Varah didn't really make any sign of acknowledgment but that was fine with Lilith. She wasn't here to become friends with the Praetorian; a small, nearly forgotten, portion of her mind usually recoiled little whenever she saw the warrior.

Had it been light out, anyone would have been able to see the small twitching as she fought to keep herself from fully scowling. She took a deep breath; it had been a while since she felt the hatred for those she felt were beneath her.

"I might need your Praetorians out there Varah." She said as she turned towards the southeast entrance. She could see Dobson and Kalen moving the last of the bodies into a concrete tube off to the side.

"I understand." Varah's calm voice said, as if the potential bloodshed was nothing more than a simple task for her. Lilith turned as the sound of footsteps approached her and she could see three soldiers moving up to her, all of them had their helmets off. One carried two rifles while the other had a square PVC-77 on his back.

In the low light of a nearby lamp she could barely see the face of Captain Hansen. The man quickly gestured to the soldier on his left, who had the two rifles; the soldier held one out towards Lilith. She took the weapon from the soldier and slung it over her own shoulder.

"All squads are in position; I've got one assault stubber setting up on the roof, with the second and third taking up position on either side of the entrance. Sergeant Garlow has his squad setting up position on the other side of the entrance; they'll be cutting off their escape once they're all inside the perimeter." Hansen said as he gave a slight bow to the Praetorian.

"Good, Varah here will have her warriors take up positions as well."

"Is that necessary?" Hansen asked.

"Yes, I'd rather have an overkill than potentially let one of them escape once the trap is sprung." The Vox-Operator pulled the handset off his vox set as someone began to call in. Everyone looked at him as he listened before looking at the Hansen.

"Captain, the scouts report seven fast movers coming from the south. They say they look like Bullheads." Hansen reached out to take the handset from the man.

"Yullen, do they have any identifiers?" Lilith waited as Hansen nodded slowly then gave the handset back.

"Unmarked Bullheads are moving fast towards our position; they should be here roughly around the same time as the trucks." Hansen said looking at her.

"So they must be connected but since we don't know who's in them it ends up being a variable that we can't afford to mess with like this." Lilith mused then looked them.

"Rig the crates with explosives then have your troops take up position in the woods Captain. Varah, if they get here before we're gone, kill them all." Lilith said and the group scattered. She looked up at the sky, it was a cloudless night and the stars were out.

It wasn't long till Captain Hansen reported back to her that the explosives were in place and he was already pulling his squads out to their new positions. Varah returned to her as well, the Praetorian said nothing but Lilith knew that her contubernium was also already on the move.

By the time Lilith was already out of the compound, the roar of engines could be heard overhead as several Bullheads began to circle the facility. As she made her way up a small hill she turned around as she wanted to watch as the trucks entered the compound as well and what would happen next.

The SDC crates, which had been rigged with explosives, were now sitting out in the open by the trucks they came in on. From the few working lights in the compound she could see that they were indeed White Fang members, many of whom were armed with submachine guns or short swords.

The White Fang members reached the crates; she was surprised that none of them seemed that suspicious of why the crates were laying out in the open.

As they began to pick up the crates to carry back to their own trucks, it was at that moment that one of the Bullhead's landed on the rooftop of the warehouse as the others backed away. Lilith narrowed her eyes; did they realize something was off?

She could hear faint shouting, no doubt it was a warning of some kind but it was too late. Multiple explosions boomed, briefly blinding her eyes as the explosive devices were detonated.

The combine explosives and Dust crystals inside the crate made a spectacularly powerful explosion that forced her to take a few steps back from the sheer force of it.

It was over in a matter of seconds, as her vision returned to normal. Lilith could see that all the trucks were nothing but flaming ruins.

Even the front of the warehouse was collapsed, taking the Bullhead that had landed on it with it. A good length of the fence was also missing, squinting her eyes a little she could see a faint glow of heated metal at its edges.

The screams of the dying could still be heard as the rest of the Bullheads settled at a distance from the blast site. Lilith could see White Fang members rushing towards the carnage, though one Bullhead didn't disgorge White Fang members.

She could see that there was instead just one person that stood on its ramps but interior lights made it difficult to see who it was.

She ordered the attack, gunshots snapped out rapidly from the tree line, taking a dozen White Fang members down immediately. What she didn't expect was the flash of Aura among a number of White Fang members.

These Faunus immediately sounded the alarm and soon shots rattled out in return fire as these Aura enhanced individuals began to rally their brethren around them.

"Varah, if things start to get out of hand I need you to finish them off but make sure to keep some of them alive so we may question them later." Lilith said and she could hear the faint sound of armor servos as Varah left her side.

Assault stubber fire began to rake the front lines of the White Fang, taking another six down as the rest took cover. Lilith could see fireteams shifting out from the tree line to get better angles as the White Fang broke off into smaller units as they were unable to contend with the direct fire of the stub guns.

The Aura enhanced White Fang members were however proving to be troublesome, while under sustained fire two of them were quickly brought down. The problem however extended to the fact the rest realized that keeping on the move from cover to cover meant that they couldn't get hit enough to fully deplete their Aura.

Four of the White Fang members with Aura charged at a fire team, with blade and handgun in both hands. One of them was killed as the five men opened up on them in close range. However the Aura soaked most of the rounds up before it failed allowing the rest to rip him apart.

The other three were able to fall upon the men easily, hacking or firing their weapons at point blank range. She could see it was a fierce but ultimately futile struggle for the Arcadian Rangers as while their body armor was effective it couldn't protect them forever. As either a blade or a bullet struck a weak point such as the faceplate of their helmets.

It was at that point that the Praetorians made their move, the three White Fang members butchering the now dead bodies were met by two Praetorians. Lilith could barely make out the red glow of their optical lenses from their visored bascinet helmets as they bore down with their glowing poleaxes held in a high guard coming down on them.

It was the first time Lilith had actually seen powered weapons wielded against Aura enhanced individuals. Sure she knew that it's not an uncommon occur as she's seen power weapons wielded against the forces of the Great Enemy.

At the same time she knows that Alexander has more than a few Praetorians with their Aura unlocked as well. Though supposedly these individuals are treated rather harshly by some within their ranks but she didn't know if the rumors were true.

Shaking her head, she looked back at the fight. She could see in the glow of the fire that raged unchecked in the background, one Praetorian already had their poleaxe embedded in the shoulder of one of the White Fang members.

The other two were backpedalling in attempt to break away from the second Praetorian who easily parried their blades while ignoring the rounds that shattered harmlessly against his or her armor.

A third Praetorian appeared from behind the two White Fang members before quickly jabbing the head spike of the poleaxe against one of their backs. Lilith was surprised to see the spike break the Aura in a flash of light as Aura met energy before vanishing.

The White Fang member slumped to his knees staring at the tip of the head spike as it poked out from his chest. The last member was swiftly killed as the second Praetorian slammed the poleaxe's hammer head down shattering his skull in a shower of gore.

Lilith watched as the last of the resisting White Fang were quickly dispatched by the Praetorians. In the distance however she couldn't help but notice the Bullhead, which had the singular figure watching, take off before flying eastward.

A few of the assault stubbers fired up at the craft but nothing they had could have brought it down as it quickly put distance between them. All but two of the Bullheads would manage to escape which annoyed her as it meant that it would simply serve to further prevent them from keeping their presence hidden from the White Fang.

Though she doubted that they would be able to ascertain who they were, they would most likely chalk this up to the Valean Military. As even though it was a meager, if not near nonexistent entity, it still had a few teeth left in its decrepit body.

"Targets neutralized Ma'am." Hansen's voice crackled in, the man sounded a little winded which isn't surprising as some Faunus could be rather tenacious. Like that Taurus fellow that's been on the Vale news as of late, a rather ruthless fellow that she could almost respect even if he seemed like a complete lunatic.

"Any prisoners?" She asked and waited a few minutes before Hansen got back to her.

"Nine prisoners with another sixteen wounded."

"Alright have two squads escort the prisoners to the Valkyries."

"And the wounded?" He asked.

"Grant them mercy." She said coldly there was an extended pause before Hansen replied.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

 **Later…**

Lilith stood on the deck of the Arcadian Naval Vessel, _Chalice_ ; the Light Cruiser was at the head of a small squadron of ships. There was its two escort frigates the _Amareo_ and _Halifax_ both ships were on either side about five hundred feet away from the cruiser.

Six hundred feet off their stern was the Amphibious Transport Dock, _Nearque_ , which contained a company of soldiers from the Arcadian 9th Ranger Battalion. Lastly there was the Destroyer _Antorax_ trailing behind it as well.

She couldn't see much of the ocean at night but the cool air with the ting of salt was rather refreshing than the continuously recycled air that was in her stateroom below deck.

"How are our guests?" Lilith asked when she heard the soft click of a sabaton on the deck behind her.

"Four are dead but we have what we need." Varah said simply.

"Four dead?"

"They didn't have anything useful."

"Interesting."

"Do you disapprove?" Varah asked and Lilith chuckled.

"No, it's something that I would have done as well anyway tell me what you've learned so far."

"The Vale branch of the White Fang seemed to have struck a deal with Roman Torchwick."

"The criminal?"

"Indeed, from what one of them has said it appears that the Vale White Fang branch has reached out to him to give him the manpower needed to muscle in on the underworld, in return he's to give them a rather large amount of Dust."

"How much?"

"Well in the past six weeks, Roman's been able to attain, intercept or destroy nearly two dozen SDC shipments while crippling four quarries owned by the Vale Government. Along with that he's hit almost every Dust store on the far north and south side of the city." Varah said and Lilith whistled.

"That's a tall order but it's possible if the White Fang have fully backed him with manpower. I reckon that they've probably taken some hits in return but if Roman's also taken majority control of the Vale underground then that would just widen his pool of strength and influence."

"An average SDC freighter brings in about thirty to forty tons in deadweight this is essentially going to cripple not just the Dust economy but the commercial shipping and insurance economies as well if it hasn't already." Varah noted.

"The question however remains though about why the White Fang would approach Roman on this. They're not afraid to get their hands dirty in going after Dust shipments especially if it's a Schnee but Roman's also a human. Taurus would rather cut his own hands off or preferably Roman's before working with him." Lilith turned around as she started to pace around the deck in thought.

"Roman wouldn't normally do something this big or public because it would draw far too much attention to him. So what changed?"

"Maybe there's a third party." Varah said and Lilith looked up at the Praetorian.

"Maybe, but who would be able to force those two to work together?" Lilith looked towards the eastern horizon where Vale would be.

"Varah, go and ask our guests if they know when the next SDC shipment is coming."

* * *

 **The Next Morning…**

Jaune and the rest of team JNPR watched as the proverbial battle of will continued amongst their fellow team. It seemed Blake and Weiss were at each other throats for some reason that Jaune had forgotten.

"So, how is everyone?" Nora asked casually.

"We're fine, there's nothing going on here." Weiss said tersely to which Blake said.

"Ignoring your problems as if no ones can see them, typical Schnee."

"Pushing an issue that doesn't need to be pushed in front of others is hardly fair is it?" Weiss shot back.

"Treating them as children isn't going to help anyone."

"Acting more mature than you really are is in fact even less mature."

"Maintaining a status quo because it benefits you does more harm in the long run." Jaune stood up abruptly.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha started to ask but he simply walked away from their table.

"Nice job you two." Ruby said looking at her teammates.

"It's not my fault." Weiss began to say as Blake opened her mouth to counter her but Yang cut in.

"If you two can figure your shit out or at least stop fighting in front of us then I'm gonna knock both of your heads together until you can and I'll keep doing that no matter how long it takes."

"It's the weekend so how about we take a trip into Vale? Take out mind off things, get something to eat maybe do some shopping or just explore the city." Ruby suggested and surprisingly Weiss nodded.

"The Vytal festival is pretty much around the corner, I'm sure there will be a ton of new merchandise for us to peruse." Ruby looked towards Blake who simply rolled her eyes before looking away.

"I'm fine with that." The youngest girl of the group looked across the table.

"Do you guys wanna come as well?" Pyrrha exchanged looks with Nora and Ren.

"That sounds like a lovely idea but you can go on ahead since we'll have to go talk with Jaune about coming along so we'll probably catch up with you later." Pyrrha said and Ruby smiled as the rest of team RWBY got up from the table to put their trays away.

"Wait, why didn't we just go with them? You can just call or message Jaune to meet us at the landing pads." Nora asked.

"Nora, she wanted to give team RWBY some space since they're having problems." Ren said to which Pyrrha nodded.

"It seemed like an issue that should be resolved amongst themselves not in front of other people."

"Yea but they're going to the city, that's not exactly going to lead to a private conversation."

"True but unless they start screaming at each other I doubt many people would go through the effort to pay attention to their conversation." Pyrrha pointed out.

"She's got a point Nora." Jaune's voice said from behind them and the three of them turned to see Jaune take his seat next to Pyrrha again.

"Where did you go?" The redhead asked and Jaune simply shrugged.

"Nowhere, I just wanted to see what would happen if they saw me leaving like that." She frowned.

"Not sure how I feel about that Jaune, they might think they've done something to upset you."

"To a certain extent they have actually, I don't particularly care about whatever personal tiff they're having but to have it so openly without regarding others around them is rather careless."

"That's a little heartless isn't it?" Ren asked and Jaune sighed.

"A little but at the same time if it's taken them this long to even remotely call a ceasefire to head into Vale then there's obviously something very wrong here."

"So do you want to go to Vale and hang out with them?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune shrugged.

"Why not."

* * *

 **An Hour Later…**

Jaune and the rest of his team got off the Bullhead after it settled down on the east side of Vale's Commercial District. Around them there was at least twenty other Bullheads, some taking on more passengers while most were dropping people off as well.

"Come on Jaune." Pyrrha said as she grabbed his arm to pull him along, Nora and Ren were already a dozen feet away heading towards a relatively small gate. He realized the last and only time he had been in Vale was when he was with his father.

For some reason he felt the urge to look around and see if Zus was here. He shook his head a little, that would be crazy. There's no reason that the man would be here at the same time to watch Jaune nor would he be able to tell if Jaune was in the city again.

Then again he was, as far as Jaune was aware, a spy. So maybe it was possible that he had the ability to spy on Jaune or at least figure out that he was in Vale.

Now he just felt paranoid but he didn't know why he should feel paranoid. Then again considering his father already hired some random people to beat the crap out of him it might not be unreasonable to suspect that he might have given Zus that same order.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice cut across his thoughts.

"Hm? Yes Pyrrha?"

"I asked how many times you've been to Vale."

"Oh! I guess this is technically my second time, why do you ask?"

"Well you looked a little nervous so I thought I'd ask. Is this really your second time?" He nodded.

"Yup, the last time I was here was when my father dropped me off before I came to Beacon." Pyrrha nodded as they followed Nora and Ren.

"So what's he like?"

"Who?"

"You're father."

"Oh, why do you want to know?" She shrugged.

"Call it curiosity, I figured I might get to meet him one day since we're partners and all." Jaune smiled.

"Indeed we are. So what can I tell you about the old man, hmm, he's big that's for sure. Probably the biggest person I've ever seen in fact."

"How tall is he?"

"Man, he's easily eight feet tall and not just that he's super strong as well. I wouldn't even be surprised if his muscles have muscles also." Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at the seemingly over exaggeration of his father but she stopped when she saw how serious he was.

"You think I'm joking but I'm complete serious, I would bet all the Lien that I have that he could beat not only Nora but Yang in a contest of strength, at the same time." Jaune and Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at that.

"He sounds like a fine warrior." Jaune nodded.

"What about your mother?" She asked and Jaune glanced at her but the red head was smiling jovially as they walked out of the building. Ren and Nora were already trying to hail a taxi cab for them to take in order to meet up with team RWBY who had left an hour earlier.

"She's my mother and I love her of course. Though I know that's not a satisfactory answer for you so I guess I can say she's also a warrior much like my father but they differ in terms of parenting. Where my father is cold she's like the light of the sun, a warm and comforting presence."

"That's an interesting simile."

"Yup, so how about you Pyrrha, what are your parents like?" As the redhead opened her mouth Nora interrupted them.

"Come on you two, the taxi's waiting!" The bubbly short girl called out and Pyrrha instead smiled before heading towards the waiting car with Jaune laughing softly as he followed her.

What they failed to notice however was the man that had been watching them ever since they got off the Bullhead from Beacon.

The man sighed in relief; he had been tasked to keep a watch on the only son of the Arc family. At first it had been a wonderful assignment, as to being given a task directly related to the royal family would drive those he knew him mad with jealously.

Over time though he realized just how tedious the task was, as the High Lord's son had up to this point never left the Academy unlike many of the other students he's seen. He pitied the Praetorians in their eternal task as the swords and shields of the royal family as it seemed dreadfully dull.

Now though it seemed the young lad was finally going out into the city. His face darkened however as he remember his morning briefing, he needed to make sure the young heir stayed away from the Industrial District.

He had a call to make.

* * *

 **Later…**

Jaune and the others were walking behind a short orange hair girl only to see a blonde monkey Faunus coming sprinting around the corner cackling as he went past them with two men running after him.

"Salutations good sirs!" The girl in front of them called out but they simply kept on running. Shortly afterward they turned to see just in time the girl getting knocked over by team RWBY.

"Psst, I think we should just leave." Nora said and Jaune agreed as it seemed like a good idea alas Pyrrha being Pyrrha went to go help the fallen girl.

"Are you alright?" The tall redhead asked as Weiss jumped off her with a squeak.

"I'm fine, how are you?" The fallen girl said looking up at her.

"I'm…good, do you need help getting up?" Pyrrha asked and the girl looked around then shook her head before leaping back onto her feet.

"You're a strange one aren't you?" Yang said only to get elbowed by Blake.

"I'm Penny, nice to meet you!" The girl said holding out her hand towards Pyrrha only to switch around to team RWBY then back to Pyrrha.

"Have you seen a blonde Faunus run by?" Weiss interrupted and the strange girl tilted her head a little.

"Yes." The girl said and Weiss waited for her to continue.

"Well which way did he go?"

"Away from me." Jaune swore Weiss started to twitch violently at that moment.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked only to get elbowed by both Ruby and Blake.

"Come on guys, we already knocked her down let's not bug her anymore." Ruby said gesturing for Jaune to come with them then waved at the orange hair girl.

"Well friend, take care." Ruby said and Jaune as made his way towards the shorter girl he pushed aside as the orange hair moved past him to get a close look at Ruby. Jaune wasn't really sure what was going on as he looked at the others but they looked just as confused as the girl asked if Ruby really meant her what she said.

He saw Yang, Blake, and Weiss try to wave her off only for Ruby to confirm it. As all three of them fell over, he looked towards his teammates.

"Anyone have any idea what's going on?" They all shook their heads.

"Nope."

"Not one."

"Who's that blonde lady?" Nora asked instead pointing across the street and Jaune whipped around. Much to his dismay, there really was a blonde woman there. Worst of all, he knew who she was.

"Crap." He whispered as the lady walked towards them. Most of team RWBY had already left as they didn't really want anything to do with Ruby's new companion.

"Why, this a pleasant surprise to find you out here Jaune." Lilith said with an odd smile on her face.

"It's the weekend Aunt Lilith; I'm out here spending time with my friends and teammates. What brings you here?" Glancing around though he could see that team RWBY and the odd girl were already gone.

"Business, I'm here to meet some potential clients." Lilith said with an easy smile but Jaune just felt nervous, he knew what his Aunt did for the Kingdom.

"So wait, you're his aunt?" Ren asked and Lilith turned to look at the quiet teen.

"Yes and you are?"

"My name is Lie Ren, a pleasure to meet you Ms. Arc." He said bowing his head slightly.

"And my name is Nora Valkyrie, hammer extraordinaire at your service." Nora said with a salute and lastly Pyrrha who gave a bow of her own.

"Pyrrha Nikos ma'am, I'm Jaune's partner at Beacon." Lilith rubbed her chin as she walked up to them and looked to be judging them.

"Why don't we go somewhere and get something to eat?" Jaune said breaking the silence and Lilith looked at him.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Jaune, I'm famished. I believe there's this rather nice café nearby that serves a wonderful tea." The older woman said as gestured them to follow her; Pyrrha and Nora immediately followed her as Ren stayed next to Jaune.

"Is that really your aunt?" He asked and Jaune nodded.

"I'm afraid so."

"Afraid? How come?"

"Because she said she's here on business and if she's telling the truth then it has to be serious."

"Serious in what way?" Ren asked and Jaune glared at him.

"You said you spent time in a major Outland town that's under the protection of Arcadia so I know you understand what that means." Jaune said and Ren looked away.

"Oh."

* * *

 **Later…**

Lilith enjoyed being with her nephew, while she knew that they weren't really related, she loved the boy. She could remember when he was really young and she'd take him into the bath with her whenever she watched over the kids.

So it was nice to see him with friends that he looked truly comfortable with. The loud one, Nora, reminded her of Miriya, Helena and Claire antics that Arabella used to tell her about.

Ren seemed a lot like Sepherina, the girl was quiet and patient in her love for her siblings which is what she saw in him in regards to Nora.

Lastly there was the redhead, Pyrrha, who honestly reminded Lilith a lot of Katherine, Mina and little Nessa.

She seemed strong both physically and mentally like Katherine who was the best fighter of the seven girls. Yet at the same time Lilith felt like she had a secret competitive side that sought challenges much like the strongest of the eldest three girls, Mina.

Lastly, it felt as if Pyrrha had a strange intensity about her when it came to Jaune similar to that of Nessa, the youngest Arc girl viewed Jaune like a fairy tale knight. Which Lilith found adorable but it was also something that she knew shouldn't last forever.

"So tell me, who were those other girls?" She asked looking at the four teens as they ate their meal on the café terrace.

"Oh, that's just team RWBY. They were looking for someone apparently, not really sure why." Jaune said looking to his friends for support.

"I think it was that blonde Faunus guy. He had two detectives chasing after him, maybe he committed a crime or something and they wanted to catch him." Nora observed and Lilith found that rather interesting so she tucked that bit of information away for later.

"And the fifth girl?" She asked and the four of them just shrugged.

"Don't really know who she is, kind of just was just there."

"I'd imagine she'd be here for the Vytal Festival." Pyrrha said which made sense as far as Lilith was concerned since she seemed about the right age. At the same time just because she was the right age didn't actually mean she was a student, there was far more people that didn't want to fight and die against the Grimm.

"So what sort of business are you in?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune loudly sipped his drink only to get slapped on the arm by Lilith.

"What was that dear?" She asked sweetly as she looked at Pyrrha once more.

"You said you were here for business, what is it that you do?"

"Oh, a little of this and a little of that but I guess you can say I make important acquisitions, profiling and onsite personnel management mostly." She explained as she took a bite out of her small tea cake.

"Interesting, from the way Jaune's described his family to me I would have guessed you'd a Huntress." Pyrrha said which seemed to make Lilith smiled.

"Ah but Pyrrha, I am a hunter of sorts but my prey just looks a little different then what you'd experience." Pyrrha laughed in return.

"I suppose that's true ma'am."

"Please Pyrrha; just call me Lilly, or Lilith if you must." Jaune could see Pyrrha smile a little more as if she was happy at being allowed to not be so formal but what he was really concerned about was why his aunt kept glancing at him.

"So what are your plans for today?" Lilith asked.

"Nothing much at this point I guess, maybe explore the city since it's getting ready for the Vytal Festival. What do you guys say? Anything you got on mind?" Jaune asked looking at his friends.

"Well we were just really coming out here to help team RWBY but since they're gone I wouldn't mind hitting a book store for some new reading material."

"OH! I wanna buy a stove." Nora said.

"A stove?" Pyrrha asked and the hammer wielder nodded enthusiastically.

"Ren can make us pancakes with them." Ren sighed at that.

"Nora, we shouldn't buy a stove just for the purpose of me making pancakes."

"Well, of course silly, you can make that nasty tea you like to drink."

"It's not nasty."

"Ren it looks like puke."

"It's organic."

"If I wanted organic, I would eat a salad."

"But you hate salads."

"Cause who wants to eat leaves?"

"I like salads." Pyrrha said and Nora shushed her with a finger on her lips.

"That's because you're weird Pyrrha."

"I'm not weird!"

"Nah Pyr, you're kind of weird." Jaune said with a small only to get his arm slapped again.

"Those sound like fighting words." Pyrrha said to which Jaune just sipped loudly from his cup as he looked away. It was the near uncontrollable laughter from Lilith however that reminded them that they weren't alone.

"I'm sorry; it's just so good to see Jaune having such a natural conversation with real friends."

"Hey, don't make it sound like I didn't have any friends before this." Jaune said glaring at his aunt who smirked in return.

"Are you suggesting that you really had any friends before this Jaune? I guess you could count Myrna but I'm pretty sure she just wanted that snake between your legs." Jaune sputtered at that as the others looked at him. Ren looked a little confused while Nora looked like she was holding in laughter; oddly enough Pyrrha seemed to be looking down at his lap.

"Don't give them any weird ideas!" Jaune said though he hated how high his voice was.

"What? I'm just speaking the truth Jaune, I used to give your baths when you were younger and I can say you've always had a longsword." Lilith said and Jaune just held his head in his hands much to everyone else's delight.

"Jaune, can we speak in private?" Lilith asked instead of continuing to poke fun of him and Jaune felt his heart fall at the odd look in his aunt's eye.

"Sure." He said as he got up, his friends turned to look at them a little confused. Pyrrha even seemed like she wanted to get up to join them.

"It's fine, you three enjoy yourselves, think of it as my treat." Lilith said as she gestured to her to stay seated.

"Yea, it's fine guys." Jaune said before following his aunt inside the building. Soon he found himself in a small corridor near the back of the building.

"What is it?" Jaune asked as Lilith pulled out her scroll and began to go through it.

"Have you heard about Katherine?" She asked and Jaune frowned.

"What about Katherine? Did something happen?" Lilith nodded and Jaune felt his heart fall to his stomach.

"Your father found her in an Outland town and took her back to Arcadia. He's also ordered a shutdown of nonessential operations on the continent while ordering the few villages and towns we have to turtle up as best they can." Jaune frowned, so he was right, something serious is going on.

"How bad is she?" Jaune asked and Lilith shook her head.

"Alexander is going to have Rosenstock construct new limbs for her himself but it might take a while with what's happening in the north."

"The north? Wait what's going on in the north?" Jaune was feeling a little lightheaded at the news of his sister's injury but what's going on in Arcadia?

"Irkalla is under siege." He blinked.

"But that's not new, Lieutenant General Sigrus is experienced enough to handle a Grimm invasion."

"Sigrus is dead and the 12th Corp is in tatters. MaRaul's 9th is already moving to reinforce the Province but there is a chance that we might permanently lose ground in Irkalla at this rate." Jaune felt the blood drain from his face.

"Just how big is this Grimm invasion?" Lilith didn't respond but Jaune could see the look on her face suggesting that the situation wasn't good.

"If this is going on then why are you here? Shouldn't you be assisting in Irkalla then?" Jaune asked and Lilith looked over her shoulder briefly.

"You know that's not what I do Jaune, I'm here for an entirely different reason. Do you know who Roman Torchwick is?" Jaune nodded.

"I don't think there's anyone in the Four Kingdoms that don't know who he is. So you're here for him?"

"Sort of, it seems he's got a foot in certain things that have the interest of not only me but your parents and the High Council as well."

"And why am I being told this?"

"Because I need you to do me a favor Jaune, stay out of Vale for now."

"Why?"

"I know Roman is here and he's up to something that I need to keep an eye on but I don't know when or how things might go down as such I would prefer that you stay in Beacon as I don't want you to get caught up in it."

"Fair enough." Lilith raised an eyebrow.

"Really you're not going to say how you should be helping or something." Jaune snorted.

"I'm not an idiot; if professional Huntsmen and Huntresses along with the Police are having trouble dealing with him then I don't see how I or anyone like me can really do anything."

"Oh, well, good then I don't have to worry about getting stabbed by your mother." Lilith looked like she wanted to end the discussion as she turned away but instead she stopped to look back at him.

"Actually, can you tell me about your other friends?" Jaune raised an eyebrow at that.

"You mean team RWBY?"

"Yea, tell me what you know about them."

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Jaune stood outside the hallway of his dorm room, he had been coming back with his laundry when he heard the shouting from team RWBY's dorm.

He sighed, it sounded pretty serious. He had been hoping their outing today would have been helpful in mending whatever it was that was going with them but if anything it seemed to have made it worse.

It was at that point that everything went silent and Jaune realized that he shouldn't just be standing out there as it might seem a little weird.

The door to team RWBY's room flung open and Blake came out in a blur as she used her semblance to escape the room before running down the hallway.

Looking at the door he could see Weiss, Ruby and Yang staring back out. They all seemed a little shell shocked at what had happened. Jaune grimaced as he realized that he honestly didn't want to know what was going on so he slinked back into his room content on not knowing.

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

Lilith stood overlooking a table covered in photos. Around her the members of her Operation were attending to various things such as following their own leads on the White Fang, Roman Torchwick or of the possibility of a third faction backing those two.

Others were simply tending to their weapons or gear while some watched the security feed that had been hooked up into the place. Many more however were just sleeping.

In the corner of her eye she could see Varah sitting on a chair as she tended to her poleaxe. The pale girl was almost completely naked and looked so much smaller out of her armor that it was strange to look at her. Though what drew her attention the most however were the scars that covered Varah's pale body.

Three vertical scars crossed her stomach with a fourth running from her clavicle down across her left breast above the nipple. Two circular scars, most likely gunshot wounds, were located near her sternum and right shoulder. Lastly was the scar that ran up across her left cheek that left a permanent sneer on her otherwise pretty face.

"So when is this shipment supposed to come?" Varah asked and Lilith looked up at her. The Praetorian had set her poleaxe aside only to pick up her sword to begin inspecting it.

"I believe the shipment is tonight around midnight, if the pattern of robberies and sabotage along with our newly acquired information is correct we should be able to catch them off guard easily."

"Who's going in?"

"Three squads max, Captain Hansen has two squads on deck but they'll be playing second to your contubernium. I'll also have two cells also providing support on this mission but I need Roman alive but he might be more than what the Rangers can handle since he's been able to keep Huntsmen and Huntresses off him. So you'll be responsible for nabbing him."

"Extraction?"

"We'll have the three Valkyries with a Vulture escort stay within vox range. Alert them if you have Roman or need to get out of there. If they're unable to get you then you're to scatter within the city and lay low until you can either make it back here or to a secondary exfiltration site."

"R.O.E?"

"White Fang and any other criminals that Roman might have with him are fair game. Local law enforcement and potentially any Huntsmen or Huntresses that may come are a little trickier, incapacitate but do not kill unless the risk of capture or death is too great." Varah nodded as she placed her sword back in its scabbard.

"Call signs?" Lilith looked around and picked up a clipboard before walking over to hand it to her.

"What news of Irkalla?" Varah asked as she went over the paper.

"Forianus is preparing the 4th Cohort to advance north and Sanian is heading a four thousand strong force of the Sisterhood. While the High Lord is helping General Litvinovich organize her Field Army to move north to help MaRaul's 9th and the remnants of the 12th Corp."

"To think a Host of that size was assembling right under our noses." Varah murmured as neither woman wanted the others to overhear their conversation.

"I admit I was surprised when I heard the news as well, I would have thought the Ancient Ones up in the White Peaks would have reacted violently to the gathering power."

"Those serpents do not care for what goes on in that blasted valley unless it directly threatens them."

"Maybe or maybe they were dealt with beforehand."

"That's a dangerous notion."

"These are dangerous times." Varah stood up and walked towards the table setting the clipboard down. Looking down at the table she could see a number of photographs of what looks to be a harbor along with pictures of Roman but the Praetorian couldn't help but pick another photo up. It showed two teens, one a dark hair girl in an odd outfit while the other was a monkey Faunus who sat across from each other.

"Why do you have this?" She asked and Lilith looked up.

"Oh that. I had someone go around looking for him and they took this picture of him talking to a girl that my nephew goes to school with."

"Okay but why?"

"Because I think he might have a connection with the White Fang."

"Are you basing this on the fact that he's a Faunus? I don't think the High Lord would approve of that line of thinking."

"Yea well Alexander isn't infallible." Lilith said and in the corner of her eye she could see Varah narrow her eyes.

"Look, you don't have to like it but I know what I'm talking about. Either he's a White Fang member or they both are." Lilith sighed as she stood up straight to look Varah in the eyes, though there was still a near foot difference height between them.

"Look if it makes you feel better there's still a chance that they have no connection with the White Fang. The ship that monkey Faunus came on is from Vacuo so there's a chance that he's just a loose cannon while Ozpin would have to be a moronic fool to allow a White Fang member within his school."

"How would Ozpin know that she's a White Fang member?"

"Dear Praetorian, Headmaster Ozpin is one of if not the most enigmatic person within the Four Kingdoms that I can think of on top of that he's generally regard as the greatest spy master in the Four Kingdoms." Lilith said as she looked back down.

"How could he not know?"

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Blake watched in dismay as Roman stood over Sun with his cane aimed at the fallen teen. She wanted to rush in and save him since Sun was only in that position after coming to help her when she rushed in the first place.

"Hey!" Someone shouted in the distance and Blake looked to her right to see Ruby along with the strange girl from before on the roof of a warehouse.

It was at that moment that Blake heard a strange humming sound so she looked back at Roman in time to see someone who reminded her of a knight from a fairy tale that her mother used to read to her charging Roman.

However this knight wore a suit of armor that was surprisingly menacing as despite the apparent bulk of the armor the user was still able to quickly approach Roman from behind. In their hands was a poleaxe with a head that glowed with what she assumed was some sort of energy.

Roman was honestly surprised as he turned around to see an armored figure swinging a weapon down at him. Reacting on instinct he aimed Melodic Cudgel from the hip and fired at point blank range.

His visor was obscured by the red dust round exploding propelling him backwards with the force. Blinking he looked up expecting to see the armored warrior on their back.

Instead as the smoke cleared he could see that while his shot did connect judging from the smoke that trailed off them, they look completely unfazed. The warrior readied the strange looking poleaxe then lunged forward towards Roman.

"You're indeed an interesting Huntsman, no droll speech about stopping me and bringing me to justice!" Roman yelled as he fired once more only for the person to jump to the left then immediately right as they brought their poleaxe down in an overhead swing.

Roman jumped back avoiding the axe head but he couldn't help but feel a slight stinging sensation as the blade missed his face. He narrowed his eyes at the black armored warrior; something was different about this one. It was at that point that someone screamed and he nearly stopped at hearing it.

It wasn't the screaming of frustration or pain that he was used to hearing. This was the scream of true pain. In the corner of his eye he could see one of the White Fang grunts on his knees.

There was a second black armored warrior with a similar strange poleaxe, but this poleaxe was buried in the grunt's chest.

The warrior pulled the weapon out of the man's chest before spinning around, bringing the axe head in to decapitate the man.

It was as if someone hit the pause button then he watched as the headless body slowly slumped forward, splashing the ground ahead of it with blood.

Blake who was about fifty feet away could only feel horror as she remember the bloodthirstiness of her former partner. The sheer callousness of taking a life crushed her heart that it was difficult to think properly.

On the rooftop, Ruby fell to her knees feeling sick at seeing the death. They were supposed to be heroes and heroes weren't meant to kill people. In the corner of her eye she could see Penny starring almost blankly as well.

Below her more armored figures appeared with others that looked more like regular soldiers if not for the all black outfits following them. The soldiers immediately split up in groups of five then began to fire their strange looking weapons at the White Fang members.

Caught out in the open, even with some of them having Aura, the White Fang grunts immediately started taking losses. Ruby watched as more black armored warriors moved in with their strange glowing poleaxes cutting off limbs, carving into torsos, decapitating or crushing skulls.

Blake watched as one White Fang grunt was running towards her screaming in terror as a warrior quickly closed in and hit their legs with the hammer side of a poleaxe.

She winced at hearing the bone shattering sound of the grunt's legs breaking before disappearing in a shower of gore. She could even see his feet flying away from him as they ended just above the ankles.

The White Fang grunt was crying on the ground pleading for his life as he tried to crawl away. The warrior walked up and twisted the poleaxe around, the head spike facing the back of the grunt.

"Stop!" Blake screaming before lunging forward with Gambol Shroud posed to strike but they ignored her.

So she swung her weapon but less than a foot away from the armored arms, the warrior jumped back swinging upwards with their poleaxe battering her blade upwards before jumping to the side and slamming their haft into her stomach.

As she slammed onto the ground, her head bouncing off the ground in the corner of her eye she could see the haft coming in again only to slam into her temple.

Blake looked up at a shipping crane she found that breathing was difficult while her vision swam; she turned her head to see the blurred image of the warrior swinging downwards taking the head of the crippled grunt. Sun appeared next to her, he looked between her and the now dead grunt.

"We've got to get out of here." He said as he pulled her to her feet. Around them the last of the White Fang members were brought down either by withering gunfire or the strange glowing poleaxes of the warriors.

Roman was sweating as he struggled to keep the warrior off him; he figured out that whoever this warrior was wanted him alive. Though being alive didn't mean they couldn't take an arm or leg off as it seemed that was how the warrior was trying to capture him.

He was definitely sure that this wasn't a Huntsman or Huntress. Since there was more than one and they all looked the same which didn't mesh with the whole individual looks that those goody two shoes liked.

Plus the fact that they were killing all of the White Fang grunts he brought with him. If he had to guess, this must be some sort of military unit, maybe from Atlas.

Overhead three Bullheads started coming in and began opening fire with their nose mounted miniguns. Blake and Sun could see one warrior flung back as a heavy of gunfire struck them, only to get up once more.

A few hundred feet away from them they could see what looked to be two strange looking soldiers holding tubes on their shoulders. There was a thump and whoosh as two rockets soared up at the Bullheads.

The rear Bullhead took a hit at its tail which sent it into a nose dive into the ground, Blake could see the Bullhead crumple at the force before exploding into a ball of fire. The next one took a direct hit and simply exploded in a cloud of fire and shrapnel before its burning carcass fell into the side of several stacked shipping crates.

Varah twisted her torso avoiding the thrust of the cane before slamming her knee upward hitting Roman in the stomach. The criminal made a choking sound but falling to one knee, she raised her poleaxe ready to take his right leg off at the knee when he pointed his cane next to her feet.

She barely had time to jump away as he fired; the concussive blast sent them away from each other. She fell to the ground and skidded across the ground, her armor grinding loudly on the asphalt. Rolling to her feet she could see Roman running away as a third Bullhead lowered itself.

Varah could see the Bullhead lining up with her; she could almost see the nose mounted minigun began to spin up. She turned away and began to run towards a stack of shipping containers.

She wasn't fast enough to avoid getting hit a few times but the rounds simply shattered against her armor as she took cover behind a shipping container. Taking a few deep breathes she peered around the corner, Roman was waiting for the Bullhead to touch down so he could get in; she opened a vox channel to one of the Ranger squads.

"Archer 2, focus fire on that Bullhead setting down."

"Roger." A curt reply came over the line, renewed gunfire rattled out before one of the Bullhead's started to return fire. She could hear another whoosh of a rocket before a third explosive rocked the area.

She peered around the corner; the wrong Bullhead had gone down allowing Roman to board another one as it began to gain altitude.

"Scarecrow here, Law Enforcement is on the way, ETA five minutes." A new voice came over the line. Varah felt the unusual sensation of annoyance pass over her.

This mission had been going wrong as soon as those two kids interfered staying her hand from acting sooner but she had been hoping that she'd be able to complete it nonetheless. Time had run out though and she wouldn't be able to do anything to stop Roman from escaping.

"Quiver this is Archer, mission failure, in need of extraction." Varah said opening the line to the waiting Valkyries and Vulture.

"Roger that Archer, ETA two minutes." A monotone voice replied just before Varah switched frequencies.

"Archer 1 to all Archer units, prepare for extraction." There was a chorus of acknowledgments and Varah stepped out from behind the cover. She could see Roman looking down at her well out of range of their rockets before taking off over the water; she switched back to the Valkyrie vox channel.

"Quiver, notify _Chalice_ that Roman's Bullheads are on the move westward, see if they can get a lock on his Bullheads to see where he's going." She said and switched frequencies again without waiting for a response.

"Spider, ETA on those Vale units."

"Three minutes ma'am, they're right outside the dock entrance."

"Roger that Spider, you can go to ground now."

"Acknowledge." Varah could hear sirens in the distance, a lot of sirens; this place was going to be swarming with Vale law enforcement.

Looking around she could see the mutilated bodies of White Fang members littered the area, had this gone off without a hitch they would have had time to dump the bodies into the water. However she could also see the few unexpected variables, she recognized two of them from Lilith's pictures earlier but she didn't know the other two.

"Decanus." A voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to see Alira. The Praetorian had a few dents from getting hit directly from the opening salvo of the Bullheads earlier.

Nearby the two Ranger squads and the rest of her contubernium were gathered waiting for their extraction. Alira pointed behind Varah and she looked over her shoulder to see the cat Faunus and girl in the red cloak moving towards them.

"Be ready in case they try to stop us." Varah said to Alira who gripped her poleaxe with both hands as the two teenage girls stopped about ten feet away from them.

"Who are you!?" The Faunus girl shouted but neither Praetorian said anything. The girl with the red cloak slammed her rather large weapon down into the ground.

"You shouldn't have killed them! It was wrong and you have to answer for that." Varah exchanged looks with Alira but behind them they could hear the sound of the Valkyries as they appeared from over the rooftops of a few warehouses.

The three Valkyries lowered themselves down next to the dock's edge over the water with their rear ramps lowered. The Vulture however hovered overhead and Varah knew that they had their weapons trained on the two girls.

"Let's move." Varah said over the contubernium vox to Alira so the two girls couldn't hear her. The two of them turned away and not surprisingly neither girl tried to stop them as they got onto the Valkyries.

Blake felt nothing but pain as she watched these murderers leave and she did nothing to stop them. Instead she simply stood by and let them get away with it.

Glancing at her team leader she could see the younger girl actually trembling but when she looked at Ruby's face she was surprised to see that it wasn't fear or angry.

It was determination.

* * *

 **The Next Morning…**

Jaune woke to the sound of his scroll buzzing loudly on his nightstand, opening his eyes he could see that the sun was barely even over the horizon. Turning to the side he picked up his scroll, there was a waiting message for him.

Opening the scroll, he didn't recognize the number but it had an attachment to it. It was a little weird to get a random message but he had a sinking feeling he knew who it was from so he tapped it. A slightly blurry image showed up, blinking a few times he peered closely and recognized who it was of.

It was a picture of Blake; she was swinging her weapon at the camera. However what he couldn't help but notice was the fact that she was apparently a Faunus. A second message popped up on his screen and he felt his heart start to race.

"Be careful with who you become friends with." He repeated aloud.

"What?" Jaune sat up and in front of him was Pyrrha. The tall red head had just gotten out of the bathroom. A towel was wrapped around her shoulders and he could see that her hair was wet.

"Nothing." Jaune squeaked as he lay back down.

"Well if you're up already you should go take shower since we have class in a few hours." Pyrrha said as she fished around in a drawer before taking out a hair dryer.

"You're right but my bed is just so comfortable." Jaune complained and Pyrrha just laughed softly as she turned away to look herself in a small mirror. Jaune however looked back at his scroll; he wasn't sure what he should do with this information.

Judging by the image it would seem that Blake attacked whoever took the image which must be an Arcadian. He sighed softly; the best course of action would be to ignore the image along with the revelation that Blake was a Faunus.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

"Blake's a Faunus." Ruby said out of nowhere as she sat down across from Jaune and he nearly spat his milk out. Nora, Pyrrha and Ren just stared surprised at the young team leader.

"Neat." Nora was the first to say before digging back into her pancakes.

"Is that all?" Ruby asked and Pyrrha shrugged.

"I don't see why we need to have a bigger reaction to this; I'm sure Blake had a good reason at not telling us this especially considering since we all saw how some people reacted to Cardin's atrocious acts to Velvet a while back." Ruby nodded.

"Alright then, that's good to hear I just didn't want to hide anything from you guys." She said as the rest of team RWBY to the table to sit down and eat their breakfast. Jaune was glad to see that they were in good conditions again as a team since it looked like whatever that was going on between Weiss and Blake was finished.

Jaune couldn't help but smile a little as he dug back into his food; everything was back to normal again.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

"I'm sorry you feel that way Ozpin but we're already short of hands in dealing with the dock and factory incidents. So we need you to start loaning a few capable teams to help us." The council member said but Ozpin didn't say anything as he refilled his cup.

The incidents over the last few days were having a far more reaching impact then he had anticipated. Alas the brutal deaths of these White Fang members at the hands of some unknown group were putting the Kingdoms on edge as the news was inevitably leaked to them.

Though why the council wanted him to provide security to an envoy that was going into the Outlands was something he needed to know more about. There was something that the Vale Council knew which he didn't and that upset him a little.

He knew what sort of actions might come from a Kingdom's council; they're often short sighted in their goals. Which in turn create long term problems he had to deal with, for instance the White Fang, a once peaceful group turned terrorist organization.

They shouldn't have become such a problem but the Four Kingdoms were more worried about popularity to get reelected instead of the greater good. Now they were trying to use his students to make up a loss of manpower as they stretched themselves too thin.

"Ozpin." The council member repeated and he signed.

"And what if I refuse? I'm here to make sure all my students get the training to succeed once they're out of here but what you're asking me to do is put them on a mission that should have professionals attending to it."

"Don't worry Ozpin, we do have another Huntress that can take the mission but we need more people to go and you've got a ready pool of potential at your fingertips."

"You cannot ask me to do this; my Academy isn't within your jurisdiction to command."

"But neither can it function without us, tell me Ozpin, who provides you the funding to keep that school of yours running?"

"The people." He replied coolly.

"And we represent the people and do what we can in their best interest. If something isn't panning out the desired result for the people then the funding for such a thing is cut and diverted to more prudent matters such as technological development for the safety of the Kingdom and her people." Ozpin frowned a little as the council member continued.

"The Vytal Festival is close at hand and we know that you allow your students to pick missions to shadow professionals. Just tell them that they'll be given a chance to take that mission early or as an extra credit assignment." The council member said and Ozpin sighed.

"Fine but I'll send my recommendations for this mission of yours but if they refuse to take the mission you cannot hold it over them or this school as result of their own choice." The council members on the screen seemed motionless but he knew that they simple halted the feed to discuss amongst themselves until finally one of them nodded.

"Fine, there will not be any repercussion for your students and school." The council member said and the feed cut off, he sighed. As much as he didn't like this he knew that if he didn't play ball then they'd cut funding for Beacon to put into their military research and spending.

He was aware that the Vale Council had already placed an order for five hundred of the new Atlas Paladin series which no doubt made Ironwood so very happy to hear in spite of Ozpin's warning of what he's doing.

They had unveiled the new machines in a private showcase to the Four Kingdoms along with a select number of Outland towns' representatives that arrived earlier this month.

Mainly because the Council had an interest because they feared what might happen if the slow but sure increase of banditry in Mistral somehow leaked over to Sanus. It would explain why they wanted the cooperation of this Outland town in the northeast.

If he recalled correctly this town was also a key contested point of control during the Great War as it was situated on a major river that led all the way to the ocean. If either side could control the town they could have a major logistical highway.

Yet despite that the town managed to remain neutral, well until a certain Kingdom in the northwest decided to jump and simply seize it before anyone knew what was happening.

Then it clicked in his head as to why Vale had a sudden renewed interest.

He smiled.

* * *

 **My, things are moving fast aren't they?**

 **And what's this? Aura users killed by the Praetorians and Arcadian soldiers? Well maybe I took some liberties with how Power Weapons interact with Aura or maybe Power Weapons are just superior?**

 **Am I being biased?**

 **Maybe? Maybe Not?**

 **I'd imagine those of you that came over from the first iteration might have a... _semblance..._ of an idea of where I'm going right now. **

**(Yes, I made a pun)**

 **On a side note, any of you also getting a little excited for the Netflix Witcher series or have any particular thoughts on who they might or could cast as other characters since they announced Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia.**

 **Anyways it seems a number of you have enjoyed the information dumps I've been giving at the end of my chapters so I've got another one for you after this.**

 **If you're done reading at this point then by all means let me know what you thought of the chapter, did you like, dislike or feel in-between on something that happened within the chapter. Go ahead and let me know in the review section or send me a PM so we can talk about it.**

 **Till next time!**

* * *

 **Praetorians:**

A Legion strength force commanded by Alexander and Legatus Targatus Vidus

 **Frontline Cohorts:**

10 Frontline Cohorts

10 Centuriae in each Cohort

100 per Centuria

10 per Contubernium

These Praetorians are often seen as the frontline troops of the Praetorian Legion.

Their armor is black with a gold trim along with red surcoat that have the Arc crest on the front and back.

 **Umbras:**

Umbra: a shadow or shade

The Umbra Cohort is a 500 hundred strong group that is tasked in assisting with Arcadian Intelligence in their covert missions or pursuing missions assigned by Alexander or Targatus.

Their armor is colored black with no surcoat ; the only mark of identification is on their pauldrons.

 **Comitatus:**

Comitatus: Armed Escort or Retinue

500 Praetorians are assigned to Province Lords and to each member of the High Council. Along with being attached to dignitaries, though their mission is to protect these people they're also a double edge blade. For many people that are assigned with these warriors they know that they are watching for the slightest sign of Treason, incompetence or taint.

Their armor is white with a gold trim on the pauldrons and a black surcoat with the golden Arc Crest.

 **Aegis:**

A 4,000 strong force of Praetorians that man the walls of the High Citadel, their word is a Law unto itself that even the members of the High Council can be subject to denial of entry.

Their armor is a dark gold with a red surcoat with the golden Arc crest.

 **Squires:**

Squires are aspirants that have been taken from the age of 6; they're put through cruel almost gruesome training that could see them broken mentally or physically though in most cases they simply die from it. After four years of training they begin the first stage of their Augmentation Process. For the next six years they will continue their Augmentation process while they train their ever changing bodies. Many of the Squires that survive up to that point tend to die during these years as their bodies either cannot handle the changes or the implants fail causing them to die. Thanks to the effort of Rosenstock in studying Forianus, Talbek and Zophiel he's been able to recreate most of the template that made them though not to the same degree as there's a higher chance of failure or rejection in the squires. As such squires will gain a Secondary Heart, an Ossmodula and a Biscopea though the Ossmodula is only able to strengthen the bones while the Biscopea isn't able to fully reach potency as seen. Next will be the Haemastamen and the Larraman's Organ which has also been known to instead cause the subject to suffer from anemia making them ineligible to continue becoming Praetorians. From that point they'll be introduced a Lyman's Ear, an Oolitic Kidney, and lastly the Black Carapace which is introduced later down the line after the main augmentations. If they reach the age of 16 and passed the Augmentation process. They are one step closer to become Praetorians. It's also at this point that most of the Aspirants begin to realize something very important about the Praetorians. They are both more and less than Humans or Faunus. Afterwards they're given the Sentinel Trial, the first of three trials before they can get their Black Carapace. The Sentinel Trial looks at their mettle as they're assailed mentally by Talbek who orchestrated a test similar to one that he faced where the Squires must stand vigilant against the temptations of Power, Glory, and Passion. If they pass this Trial then they're given the Trial of Faith but if they fail then they're terminated without thought. If they did pass however the Trial of Faith will see that they are dropped off far into the western Outlands where they're given a minimal amount of supplies as they try to make it back to the Arcadian Border. This trial is one that tests their dominance over their mind and body if they're unable to achieve that then they will never be seen again. Those that survive the Trial of Faith are given the last Trial. The Trail of Steel, here they're once more sent out into the Outlands, this time given a weapon that a Praetorian might use, a poleaxe, a longsword or a sword and shield. This Trial charges them with the task of finding a worthy foe to kill be it Grimm, Daemon, Traitor or a natural creature. Even at this point a Squire would not be anywhere close to the skill or strength of a full Praetorian as their bodies are still changing if they do not have the courage or confidence in their skill to face the overwhelming odds that are put before them then they will surely die. If the Squire is able to defeat a worthy foe and make it back then they're finally ready to get their Black Carapace, which allows them to sync up with their own suit of power armor using its strength to further augment their own. After which they will finally become Praetorians. If they showed a special attribute then they might be given a choice in their station. However most of these new Praetorians are simply given over to the frontline Praetorian Cohorts where they may distinguish themselves by their acts. Some may find themselves moving on to one of the other branches of the Praetorian Legion such as the Umbra, Aegis, or Comitatus Cohorts. Each Cohort looks for certain preferential skills that potential Praetorians may have such as the ability to blend in where others could not, to stand stoic against overwhelming odds or to judge and protect those that need it.

* * *

 **Note: Certain aspects such as color scheme might change further down the line as I tried to construct them in way to play off the RWBY color rule a little but it might not stick so who knows.**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ozpin stood looking out one of the window in his office; below him he could see hundreds of people. Most of whom were students going about their day. Yet he could also pick out the different uniforms of the various students.

The Vytal Festival was much closer now and since Vale was hosting it this year that meant students from the other Kingdoms that were participating in the tournament were arriving every day now.

Behind him he could hear his Deputy Headmistress cursing softly about immature children, as she was now forced to go through their finances to pay for the incident in the cafeteria earlier.

Due to some unforeseen circumstance, which still made him laugh though he wouldn't do that in front of her, they had apparently lost more than fifteen thousand Liens.

Goodwitch's semblance was good at repairing things such as the hole in the roof along with the destroyed support column. Yet they still had to order a two whole new days' worth of food along with four replacement vending machines that were destroyed beyond repair during the incident.

"Sir, they'll be arriving soon." Professor Goodwitch said after calming down a little.

"Thank you Glynda." Ozpin said after taking a sip from his mug.

"Is something on your mind Headmaster?"

"A great deal of things actually, but I don't trouble you with my problems Glynda." Ozpin said looking at her and before the normally stern professor could say anything the elevator at the far end of the room dinged.

Out stepped three people, two women and a man that were all dressed in sharp suits. The Vale Council had dispatched three people to come and represent them during this matter that they had forced on Ozpin.

"Headmaster." The lead woman said, she was short and her brown hair was tied in a tight bun behind her head. She was holding a digital tablet in her left arm; Ozpin found it amusing that she seemed to be scanning the room as if she was expecting something.

"Ah, I take it you're from the Council. I'm Headmaster Ozpin." He said walking towards them and held out his hand but the man raised a hand.

"We know who you are Headmaster but we're here to conduct our business immediately. So please call your recommendations up here so that we may talk to them. During which we will ask that you and your Deputy Headmistress be absent during the interview."

"Surely you don't mean to come here and force the Headmaster out of his own office." Glynda started but Ozpin glanced at her and she closed her mouth.

"I understand that it might be a little rude but we purely want to talk with your students in a relaxed environment and having you there might complicate matters." The lead woman said and Ozpin nodded.

"Fair enough, Glynda will you summon teams RWBY and JNPR here." The Headmaster said looking at the blonde woman who simply nodded as she pulled out her own tablet. Ozpin headed towards the elevator stepping inside with Glynda following him.

"Thank you for your cooperation Headmaster." The woman said and Ozpin merely smiled as the doors closed.

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

Jaune and his team along with team RWBY walked into the main lobby of Beacon's Tower. Inside they could see Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch.

"Crap, I hope we're not in trouble about earlier." Yang muttered from the back of the group.

"I doubt it, Professor Goodwitch wouldn't have waited this long to hand us a punishment about that." Blake said as the Headmaster beckoned them over.

"What do you think is going on?" Pyrrha asked from Jaune's left, he glanced over at her and for some reason she seemed to be smiling.

"Why do you look so happy?" He asked in return, her cheeks turned a little red at the question.

"Oh! I'm guess I'm just sort happy to have gotten in trouble with you all. This is actually the first time I've ever done something serious in breaking school conduct."

"Seriously? Yang's done so much worse on her own back in Patch." Ruby said from behind the pair.

"I guess because I've always had to be mindful of my sponsorships I had to make extra sure that I never broke a rule."

"Ah, the woes of the famous I see, not something we can relate with." Yang said in a good-natured manner but Jaune could see Pyrrha's eyes fall away at that comment.

"It's nothing to joke about Yang, the rich and powerful have just as many problems as anyone else." Weiss said and Yang simply snorted as they finally reached the pair of adults.

"I'm glad to see you all here." Ozpin said giving them all a nice good but knowing smile.

"What can we help you with Headmaster?" Ruby asked clearly eager but Jaune felt something was odd at how they met him in the lobby of the tower.

"I'm sure by now you may have heard from some of the older years, that around this time we send first years out to shadow a Huntsman or Huntress for a short time. Well I'm here to tell you of an offer to send you on such a mission ahead of time." Ozpin said and Ruby glanced around; most of team RWBY seemed to be okay with the idea.

"So you want to send us out early to shadow someone?" Weiss asked and Ozpin smiled.

"That's not for me to say actually, in fact, if you're so inclined to see where this is going then by all means step into the elevator and head up to my office." Ozpin said and this made Jaune look at his teammates as well. This was starting to be highly irregular and they could feel it but all that did was just peaked their curiosity.

"We'll go." Ruby said and Ozpin nodded before looking at Jaune who turned to his teammates. Nora flashed both of her thumbs up, Ren simply nodded and Pyrrha smiled as she nodded as well.

"I guess we'll go as well." Jaune said looking at the taller man and woman.

"Then by all means, step inside." Ozpin said gesturing to the open elevator to which the eight of them went into.

"And don't worry, even once you hear what this is about you'll still have the option to refuse." Ozpin said as the doors closed.

"What did he mean by that?" Yang asked but none of them could answer that as they went up. It wasn't long before they could feel the elevator come to a halt. The doors parted with a ding and the eight of them squeezed out of the elevator.

"Wow." Ruby said as they looked around Ozpin's office, none of them had been in it before. Jaune however was more focused on the three people seated in chairs before them.

"You must be team RWBY and JNPR." The woman in the middle said as she wrote something down on her tablet.

"Yes ma'am." Ruby said and she looked up at Ruby.

"You're Ruby Rose, correct?" She asked.

"Uh, yes, I'm Ruby Rose."

"Hmm, you're the leader of team RWBY. A bit on the nose with the name isn't it?"

"Ah, well I didn't pick the name." Ruby started to say but the woman just looked at Weiss.

"So that would mean you're Weiss Schnee, a pleasure to meet you." The woman said and Weiss curtsied.

"And you're the young Faunus girl, Blake Belladonna, from the dock incident with the White Fang." The woman said and Jaune could feel the normally quiet girl squirm a little.

"Yes, I'm a Faunus, is there anything specific you want to say?" Blake said but the woman merely gave her an amused look.

"It matters not to me that you're a Faunus or Human I merely stated your nature as a fact as this is business nothing more and nothing less." The woman said and Blake wisely kept her mouth shut.

"And lastly is Yang Xiao Long, half-sister to Ruby Rose."

"Yup." Yang said unsure of what else to say, the woman looked at Jaune now.

"And you're Jaune Arc leader of team JNPR? I have to say that's an interesting last name." The woman said and Jaune could hear his father's words echo in his head but he stilled nodded.

"Then there's Nora Valkyrie, you and Lie Ren here are orphans correct?" The woman asked and Jaune could see the two of them stiffen a little but Nora nodded.

"We are."

"If you don't mind me asking but how or why did you come here? From your records you indicated that you're originally from Anima."

"Well, Ren and I met someone who led us to Sanus where we stayed in an orphanage in an Outland town in the north. We would also get trained there until we were able to apply to Beacon Academy."

"And who was this person?" The woman asked but Nora and Ren exchanged looks.

"We don't know, no one ever told us who he was." Ren said.

"Interesting and lastly is Pyrrha Nikos, a pleasure to see you young lady."

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you as well Ma'am." The woman lowered her tablet.

"I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Thara Taup of the Vale Council and my compatriots here are Fiye Weston of the Vale Ministry of Defense and Sangria Rueda of the Vale Ministry of Commerce. Before we continue however there are some questions we'd like to ask all of you." Thara said as she leaned forward.

"First, this will be directed mainly to Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Do you remember the name of the Outland town you stayed at?" The two of them nodded.

"And what is the name of that town?" They seemed to hesitate and Jaune could see Ren shifting his eyes a little in his direction.

"The town was called Nodens." Jaune sadly, knew this town. Nodens was the culmination of the Arcadian Sanus Campaign during the Great War. There the Arcadians would forge a temporary pact with the Vale-Vacuo Alliance against the Mantle-Mistral Coalition.

"Can you tell us who holds this town?" Weston asked the first thing he said since they arrived.

"Sir, as far as we know the town is governed by a selection of its own members." Ren said and the man leaned forward.

"But is there anyone else there?" Ren tilted his head.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Weston leaned back.

"What do you all know of the Hurin Valleys?" No one said anything until Weiss finally sighed.

"They're a series of interconnected valleys in the northern portion of Sanus about a five hour flight from Vale."

"Alright and what do you know of its role during the Great War?"

"It was the site of the largest battle up to that point during the war, though not between the original combatants but with the fighting centered on Arcadia's invasion." Weiss said and the man nodded.

"Very good Ms. Schnee, to compound your answer, the Hurin Valleys has access to the largest river in the region. The Turin River, which allows for a fast but ample supply of resources or manpower to be moved from deep within the continent to the western coast. In times of peace it was a major highway of commerce for the Outland towns and Vale. During the Great War however it became a strategic target. As up to that point much of the fighting was further east or north. However the towns within the Hurin Valleys had no allegiance to either side but to the largest town within the Valleys, which so happens to be Nodens. As the first year of the War drew to a close it became clear to Vale, Mantle and Mistral that the Hurin People had formed their own Army. While alone it would be beaten by any of the Kingdoms it dawned on us that if the Hurin Valleys did side with someone it could end the war. For us, if Mantle or Mistral took control it would allow them an excellent point to launch attacks against Vale itself. Yet if we took it then the Mantle-Mistral Coalition knew that it would be impossible to assail Vale without a lengthy fight against either our Eastern Army or the natural defensive barriers that the Hurin Valleys would provide. Thus that would bleed them just as much if not more than us. Alas no one expected Arcadia to join the fray, in less than a month they landed three armies on Sanus. However the largest force was on the northern shores of Sanus where they quickly defeated the Vale, Mantle and Mistral forces that were in their way then captured or forced the Hurin Valleys under their rule. Then as you know the Four Kingdoms set aside their differences for a while to face them."

"That's enough history Weston, I'm sure they would rather know why they're here." Thara said and leaned forward.

"What we want from you is to help a Huntress that is escorting a Vale Envoy to Nodens."

"What's the purpose of this Envoy?" Jaune asked.

"Excuse me?" Thara asked.

"As your colleague just said, Nodens became a willing territory of Arcadia and if memory serves me correctly even after the Four Kingdoms destroyed four out of the seven Outland towns in the Hurin Valleys, Arcadia still beat the Four Kingdoms. Then it wasn't until nearly a year after that they decided to join the Vale-Vacuo Alliance on their own terms. Yet when the war ended, the Hurin Valleys all but fell off the radar yet Arcadia never said that they would fully pull out of Sanus. So despite wanting nothing to do with the Four Kingdoms or the outside in general, those that came to their banner in the Great War wouldn't be left behind. So by following that logic someone must think that Arcadia is still controlling Nodens to some degree otherwise you wouldn't have kept up the subject for so long." Jaune pointed out and Thara smiled.

"It seems this one knows more than he lets on. Tell me, Mr. Arc, why is it that you're saying that Nodens became a willing territory when for all accounts of Valean history would point to witnesses of the retreating Valean Army seeing a force of armored warriors marching into the town. A force I might add that was so dangerous that they won most of their battles even when we outnumbered them in a four to one scenario. On top of that, what makes you so certain of the actions of Arcadia when even after they joined our side in the Great War they never listened or consulted with us or Vacuo to the point that it wasn't so much an alliance but just a promise not to fight us?" Thara asked and Jaune suddenly felt very warm.

"I don't know what to say Ms. Taup other than that I'm merely calling it as I see it." Jaune said feeling sweat pop up on his skin at the inquisitive stare of the beaurcraut. Everyone seemed to hold their breath for what seemed like forever before Thara smiled and began to laugh.

"I'll have to remember to thank Ozpin for picking such fine students." She said before sighing loudly in a strangely content manner. Jaune himself felt more than a little relieved to have the attention taken off of him, he had made a rookie mistake and nearly put himself in a position of being found out.

"As for the purpose of this mission I'm afraid I can't tell anyone of you what it is. As such you'll either have to figure that out as you do it or you won't in which case it doesn't matter. Though that all depends on whether or not you decide to accept this mission in the first place." Ruby glanced around.

"I guess we'll discuss it over and come to you with our answer." She said but Thara shook her head.

"I'm sorry that I didn't make this any clearer but this moment is your one and only time to decide. We'll let you talk amongst yourself but we desire an answer sooner rather than later." The woman said before clasping her hands together. Jaune walked to the far wall by the elevator door before turning to his teammates, though specifically wanting Ren and Nora's thoughts.

"Thoughts?" He asked, keeping his voice low as he put his back to the three sitting Valean Representatives.

"I wouldn't mind going." Nora said and Ren nodded as well.

"Same, I feel that I would have a whole new appreciation of Nodens now." Jaune looked at Pyrrha who smiled.

"Well I have no issues about it and it seems like Ren and Nora have their hearts set on this despite the circumstances." Jaune nodded.

"To be honest, I actually don't feel all that comfortable but if you're all cool with it then I'm fine as well."

"Wait Jaune, why aren't you comfortable?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune shrugged.

"I don't know, I guess it's because this doesn't really feel like a Huntsman sort of thing but more of a Government job."

"Well to be fair, Huntsmen and Huntresses do get jobs from the governments. If you think about it, generally speaking a Mayor or elected official are the ones putting out job requests thus we'd be working for a government." Ren pointed out and Jaune just shrugged as he turned to look at team RWBY. It was a bit surprising to see that they weren't a unanimous vote.

"I don't care what Vale wants with some Outland town." Blake said before dropping her voice.

"There are more important things to focus on." Weiss clicked her tongue.

"I can't believe how narrow minded your view on this is Blake, you said it yourself that you believe that the Arcadians were the ones to hit Roman at the docks. If this town really is connected to Arcadia then you might be able to find some answers there."

"We need to figure out what Roman's up to not what, they, might know as it was probably just blind luck." Blake cut off whatever else she was going to say as the team realized that Jaune and his own team were looking at them.

"So?" Jaune asked acting as if he hadn't overheard their conversation.

"Uh, I think we should go but let's throw it up to a vote anyways." Jaune could see Ruby, Weiss and Yang holding their hands up. Blake however looked as if she drank some sour milk.

"Well, that settles it." Ruby said looking at him and Jaune turned to the Valean Representatives.

"We accept your mission."

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Thara Taup stepped onto the balcony of her apartment; the night was cool as she pulled out a cigarette and lighted it. She took a deep breath before exhaling a small ring of smoke; behind her she could hear the soft click of a door.

"Ma'am I'm surprised you're here already." Thara said without looking back.

"Well after the dock incident, all our operations within the city have grounded to a halt. Roman's laying low and the White Fang seemed to have pulled out most of their major assets. So I've got an ample amount of spare time to use." Lilith Arc called out.

"It was to be expected, when the Dock Operation failed, it was bound to rock the boat quite a bit." Thara said and turned to walk back inside.

"Ah, can you put that out? I'm not much of a fan of smoking." Lilith said and Thara flicked the cigarette away with a soft chuckle.

"You can come back covered in blood and guts but a little smoke bothers you?" She said as she came inside and Lilith shrugged.

"Well if you smoked a better brand then I wouldn't complain so much."

"Not true, I've switched brands three times already and you complained about each of them."

"Anyways, you've got anything good on your end?" Lilith asked and Thara nodded.

"Well it seems Vale's finally making a move." She began and Lilith raised an eyebrow but kept silent.

"Ever since the Dock incident, the Vale council has been going on and on about us to the point that they want to test their luck by sending an Envoy to Nodens." Lilith cocked at her head at that.

"Nodens? There isn't anything there for them, if they're trying to truly find evidence there to pin on us about the Factory and Dock attacks than they're not entirely bright."

"I don't actually think that is what their goal is ma'am. From what I've gathered it seemed that this doesn't have to do with internal security but more along the lines of global interests." Thara said and Lilith leaned forward.

"How so?" She asked but Thara just shook her head.

"I don't have anything concrete as the Vale Council has been holding more and more private meetings thus excluding anyone that isn't on the council itself."

"So they're playing it close to their chest, do they suspect a spy?"

"Yes but not just from us, some of the Vale Council members have, in unofficial channels, made it clear that they feel that a decent percentage of the Faunus that work in Parliament are in fact sympathizers with the White Fang."

"That's actually smart; the White Fang had been getting bolder and closer in their movements to Vale. Alas the debacle at the Docks blew any chance of capturing Roman or finding a White Fang H.V.T but what else can you tell me."

"I know Atlas has been making waves about their distrust of Arcadia."

"That's not new, ever since the end of the Great War they thought we've been trying to take control of the Four Kingdoms. Which to be honest, I think the High Lord is fool to not do." Lilith said and she could see Thara look uncomfortable at that.

"Look the High Lord already knows my thoughts and reasons about that but in the end it's his choice. Besides even with the Irkalla Siege finally winding down, I think things are in motion that might force or bind his hands in this." Lilith mused and Thara cleared her throat.

"There's another thing, the Vale Council sent a request to Headmaster Ozpin for loaning some of his more exemplary students to use as muscle to help protect their Envoy." Thara said and Lilith nodded for her to continue.

"Well it turns out that one of the teams that Ozpin has offered is led by Jaune Arc." Lilith frowned.

"And what did Jaune say?"

"He accepted the mission." Thara said and Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"When are they supposed to leave for this mission?"

"Most of this mission has been compartmentalized but I believe that they should be leaving this Friday." Thara said and Lilith cursed silently.

"Then it's too late to try talking him into backing off, he'll just have to handle the consequences."

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Jaune woke at the crack of first light, today was the day that they would go on their first mission and he had more than a few reasons to be nervous.

His aunt had sent him a message saying that the chance of his cover being blow was all but guaranteed. Though how she knew that he was going on a mission was beyond him however he knew that what she said was true.

During his summer of training, he remembered reading about the Sanus Campaign and knew that the Hurin Valleys were the closest thing to a full blown Arcadian Province among the Four Kingdoms.

"Jaune?" A voice interrupted his thoughts; he turned to see Pyrrha was already up and dressed.

"Oh hey Pyrrha, excited?" He asked and she smiled.

"Very, this will be the first time I'm going to an Outland town and one that is supposed to be steeped in history along with a close affiliation to Arcadia."

"I understand the history and the exploration part but what does Arcadia have to do with your interest?" Jaune asked and she shrugged.

"I mean who wouldn't be interested in seeing that Kingdom? A Kingdom so old that it can be traced back to the Old World when even Dust wasn't discovered."

"I guess when you put it like that it makes a lot of sense at why you're so interested." Jaune said as he took out his travel bag and began to stuff some spare clothes into it.

"Actually, I'm sort of curious about what happened in Ozpin's office a few days ago."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that conversation you were having with Ms. Taup. She was right in questioning how knowledgeable you seem to be in regards to Arcadia's actions with Nodens. While I'm sure you'd say it's just history and that somewhere someone wrote down something like that. The manner in which you explained it felt as if you were correcting them not just putting forth an idea you heard." Pyrrha stepped closer to Jaune and he felt nervous again.

"Jaune." She said staring intensely at him.

"Uh, yes Pyrrha?"

"Don't lie to me." She said narrowing her eyes at him and Jaune could feel sweat breaking out once more.

"I-I won't." He managed to say.

"Who are you Jaune?"

"I'm me." He replied instantly but he knew that might not have been the right answer as her face twitched in anger.

"You're last name is Arc, it's known that the Ruler of Arcadia last name is also Arc. In fact the name Arcadia has the word in it. So tell me, are you related to those Arcs or not?"

"No." Jaune said but the moment he opened his mouth it was painfully slammed shut before he fell onto his back. It took him a second to realize that Pyrrha had punched him.

"I said don't lie to me." The red hair girl said as she crossed her arms.

"Now I'm going to ask you one last time Jaune and if you don't tell the truth I'm going to continue beating you." Pyrrha said as she reached down to grab the front of his shirt and pulled him up into a sitting position.

"Are you from Arcadia?" She asked and Jaune hesitated before slowly nodding.

"Who are your parents?"

"My mother is Arabella Arc, leader of the Sisterhood and my father is High Lord Alexander Arc, the rightful ruler of Arcadia." Jaune said as Pyrrha let him stand up.

"So the King and Queen of Arcadia are your parents?" Pyrrha asked and he nodded.

"What's going on?" Ren asked from behind, Pyrrha turned to see him and Nora were awake now.

"Jaune's been hiding that he's apparently the son of the rulers of Arcadia." Pyrrha said and Nora looked confused.

"So?"

"So!? This is important! He's been hiding this from us because he didn't trust us! Doesn't that piss you off?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, we actually already knew." Nora began before Ren put a hand over her mouth.

"You knew!?" She yelled then turned back to Jaune who had backed up a few steps.

"Why did you tell them but not me? Am I not your friend? Do you not trust me!?"

"Pyrrha wait." Ren said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We confronted him about it as well and he didn't want to tell us back then so don't blame him." She turned her head away but Jaune saw the flash of pain on her face and reached out to take Pyrrha's arm.

"Look Pyrrha, I'm sorry I hid this from you but allow me to explain my actions." The red head looked at him as he gestured for her to sit down. Once it was clear that she wasn't going to punch him in the face again he began to recount the last five months to her.

* * *

 **30 Minutes later…**

"So to condense this all down, your father wanted you to keep who you are a secret in order to keep you from getting caught in the political battlefield of being the son of the ruler of a Kingdom that's, in mild terms, disliked by Four Kingdoms." Pyrrha said as Ren and Nora who had both taken showers were busy packing their things up.

"Yea pretty much." Jaune said from his bed.

"I understand that a little more and I apologize for hitting you earlier but I still feel a little hurt that even after Ren and Nora figured out you still decided not to tell me anything."

"And I'm sorry about that but honestly I had no idea how to go about that as well. I mean what was I supposed to say, hey Pyrrha what was our assigned reading last night and oh yea I'm a part of the Royal Family of an entire Kingdom."

"When he says it like that, he's got a point." Ren said from his bed and Pyrrha sighed as she checked her scroll.

"I guess you're right Ren, once again I'm sorry for hitting you Jaune but you should go get ready now. We're supposed to be at the Docking Area about an hour and a half from now." Pyrrha said as she stood up and held her hand out. Jaune however didn't shake her hand; instead he gave her a quick hug as it seemed more appropriate to him.

"I can't be mad at you for hitting me Pyrrha as I should be the one apologizing." He said before picking up his clothes to head into the bathroom.

Pyrrha was left standing there with her hand still raised; Nora walked up to her and could see how red the taller girl's face was. Nora simply laughed before tapping Pyrrha's forehead which brought her back to reality.

"He got you good with that Pyrrha." The shorter girl said as she went back to sitting on her bed.

"I didn't think he'd hug me." The tall girl said as she sat down again.

"We can see that since you had the perfect chance of grabbing his butt there." Nora said.

"Why would she grab Jaune's butt?" Ren asked and Nora just clicked her tongue.

"You just don't understand the mind of a young maiden Renny, once she's got a tasty for her Beau's delicious booty ain't nothing is gonna stop her from wanting more of it." Nora explained and Pyrrha just looked at Ren.

"What does that mean?" The stoic teen just shrugged as they continued getting ready.

* * *

 **An Hour and a half Later…**

"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind Jaune as he and his team along with team RWBY walked through the front door of the Academy's main cafeteria. Turning around he was surprised to see that it was Cardin that was calling out to him with the rest of his team behind him, he lowered his travel bag.

"Uh, what's up Cardin?" Jaune asked as the taller teen walked up to him.

"Is it true?" The taller teen asked and Jaune just raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, is it true that you guys were handpicked by Ozpin to go on a mission for the Kingdom?" Cardin asked and Jaune looked behind him only to see the others were still walking towards Beacon's main avenue.

"Yup, we were pretty surprised about that as well but how did you hear about that?" Jaune asked.

"Are you kidding? It's been the buzz of the school the last day and a half now."

"Honestly I didn't know that at all." Jaune said and Cardin looked surprised at that.

"Whatever you say man, just go kick some ass out there for us." Cardin said slapping his arm and walked back inside. Jaune stood there for a few seconds thinking but ultimately just shrugged as he slung his bag over his shoulder then jogged to catch up with the others.

"What did Cardin want?" Pyrrha asked as Jaune rejoined them.

"Ah, he just wanted to say good luck on our mission."

"How did he know we were going on a mission?" Ren asked from the other side of Pyrrha and Jaune shrugged. He honestly felt like that was his number one answer to half the questions being thrown at him.

"Apparently it's been spreading among the student body for the last few days."

"That's odd; I don't believe anyone of us would talk about this." Pyrrha said but Ren shook his head.

"We might not talk about it." He said leaving off the obvious implication when he looked over at team RWBY. The four girl team had pulled ahead and Jaune could see that they seemed to be having a heated discussion amongst themselves.

"Ah come on Ren, I don't think they'd run their mouths off about it as well." Nora said and Ren nodded.

"Maybe but what if someone overheard them?"

"Well someone could have overheard us as well." Pyrrha pointed out.

"And you'd be right about that if we actually had talked about it."

"What do you mean?" The taller girl asked.

"I mean, Nora and I didn't want to talk about it because of Jaune who himself is already having a hard time due to the nature of Nodens background."

"Oh yea." Pyrrha said as she looked down and after a moment she looked back up.

"Well, I guess we can talk about it now." She said and Ren nodded.

"So do you two really not know who brought you there?" Pyrrha asked.

"I actually really don't remember much about the man aside from him being big." Nora said.

"Well I believe that may have to do with his armor. I want to say that he wore a large suit of armor and carried a winged spear." Ren said and Jaune felt a smile cross his face.

"Why are you smiling?" Pyrrha asked looking at him and Nora gasped.

"Do you know who we're talking about?" She asked and Jaune shrugged.

"Maybe, I've met someone who carries a winged spear before when I was younger though I haven't seen him in more than a few years now. So I can't be sure that it's the same person."

"Oh I hope I can see him again." Nora said almost wistfully.

"I agree with Nora, I would love to thank the man that helped us get on this path." Ren added and Jaune nodded. He knew Champion Forianus tended to do a lot of solo missions so there might be a chance that he found himself in the Outlands of the Four Kingdoms some time ago.

When they get to Nodens he might be able to get in contact with his family or the Praetorian Household. He knew Areto would be more than accommodating in finding answers.

"I see you all made it on time." A voice called out and Jaune looked up to see Thara Taup standing in front of a relatively sleek but long airship. Behind her were a woman and a man.

The woman had bright purple hair that was tied in a loose braid that rested on her left shoulder. She wore a green plaid shirt with a sleeveless grey vest over it along with blue jeans and brown shin high boots. The only form of armor on her could be seen on her shoulders, elbows and knees pads.

Jaune had a feeling that she was a Huntress that they would be serving under. Though it mostly was because he could see a sawed off lever action shotgun in a holster on her right thigh and a metal whip on her left hip.

Next to her was middle age man with salt and pepper hair. He dressed in a grey three piece suit with a black tie and white dress shirt underneath along with black dress shoes.

"These are the people you'll be accompanying on your mission, the lady is Fusia Aster the Huntress that will be leading the overall mission and with her is Gibeon Nauo representative and Envoy of the Kingdom of Vale." Thara said gesturing to them with a wave of her hand.

"Nice to meet ya'll!" The woman called out with a wave, her voice laden with a relatively thick accent.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." The man said a light even tone as he bowed his head before standing up straight again.

"I do believe we have a schedule to keep, it'll be a five hour flight at least to the Hurin Valleys." He said looking at Thara who nodded.

"I wish you all the best of luck on your mission." She said looking back at them, though Jaune swore her gaze lingered on him a little too long for his taste.

"Alright then everyone get aboard the ship please." Fusia called out and the ten of them boarded the airship.

* * *

 **Outlands South of Vacuo…**

Desmond Storm cursed loudly as he jumped out the second story window of a building. Behind him, the screams of the dying were punctured by the loud sounds of fighting. Though from what he saw it was more like a massacre.

Dusthand was a relatively small town with a population barely over a thousand people. Living at the very edge of the Vacuoan Desert made it difficult to sustain a large population but it was still a comfortable life.

Bandit attacks wasn't a rare phenomenon but only the truly desperate or bloody thirsty would attack them. As Desmond took a turn, he skidded to a halt on the sandstone road, ahead of him he could see men battering down a door.

These men were tough looking people; he had yet to see a single one that wasn't a well-muscled man. All of them wore fur cloaks or cape with sections of leather or plate armor on their arms or legs with strange horned helmets.

Many of them carried large round shields with a strange eight prong star painted on the surface, while also carrying large axes, swords and maces. A smaller portion of these warriors carried thick looking bows or short spears and moved in groups.

Desmond had already seen a number of the town's militia breaking under the hail of arrows or spears before the main groups charged into them, slaughtering everyone they could even if they were surrendering.

The screams of the dying brought him back to reality as these, marauders, were lighting torches before throwing them at the building.

He ducked into a side alley, as a few of them turned in his direction. His body was covered in sweat and his heart felt as if it was going to break out of his chest.

Running down the alley he found himself at the outer wall of the town, he needed to find one of the gates. Looking left and right he could see people running around in panic as some tried to organize a barricade while most were simply trying to escape.

"Desmond!" A voice called out and he turned to see a burly old dog Faunus carrying an old bolt action Vacuoan service rifle with a Kilij at his waist with an old Vacuoan musette bag draped over him.

"Kha?! You're not dead?!" Desmond exclaimed and the older man barked out a laugh which the more Desmond thought about the more it seemed kind of manic.

Kha Aslani was a notable member of the town. Aside from being the oldest person in town, he was also the one that drilled the town militia every other month in learning how to use weapons to defend against Grimm or Bandit attacks.

"Don't get me wrong boy, we're up shit's creek with no paddle in sight. They've taken the south and east gate and are pushing to the north gate all while holding most of the merchant quarter and putting the main avenue to the torch. The Mayor and most of the town militia have been killed and these maniacs are just slaughtering everyone they see at this point." Kha said then nodded towards him.

"Do you not have a weapon?" He asked and Desmond shook his head.

"I didn't get a chance to arm myself when they stormed the eastern gate." He said and Kha held his rifle out to him.

"Here take this then, I assume you know how to use a rifle." Desmond nodded as he took the rifle; Kha took off his musette bag and handed that over as well.

"So what is the plan?" Desmond asked as he noticed that people were gathering around with anything they could carry.

"We're gonna use the west gate to head down to the river to hopefully get away from these people." Kha explained.

"They're coming!" Someone shouted down the street from them, they both spun around to see a lanky looking teen firing a revolver. He only managed to get two shots off before something hit him in the chest, a short spear.

He cried out in pain before falling back onto the ground. Half a dozen men armed with bludgeons, handguns and hunting rifles ran over immediately. Two of them dragged the teen away while the others fired their weapons, occasionally ducking back as an arrow or spear came at them.

"We don't have much time now." Kha said softly then turned back to the assembled bulk of the townsfolk with them.

"Alright! We need to move now! Women and children are to be in the center, anyone armed or that can fight needs to take the lead or watch the side alleys and building! But I'll also need some volunteers to watch the rear with me!" Kha shouted and the people immediately moved into action.

Soon enough Kha had thirty able body men and boys standing before him. All armed with revolvers, shotguns, hunting rifles, machetes, bludgeon, short swords and spears.

"Desmond, do you know the way to the next town?" Kha asked without looking at him.

"Sunmere? That's about four hours down river?"

"Good, I want you to take them there."

"Me? What about you?" Kha turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going to keep these bastards occupied Desmond while you get those people on as many boats as you can." Desmond recoiled a little at that.

"Are you crazy? That's a suicide mission Kha, there must be hundreds maybe even more of them in the town."

"My boy, you have to trust me on this, let this old dog do what he needs to do." He said and Desmond nodded unsure of what to say to dissuade him.

"Kha! They're coming!" Another man who held a boar spear called out and Kha looked to Desmond who nodded in return. Desmond took off towards the front of the group calling out for everyone to start moving.

Kha looked back down the street; the four men that had been covering the alley were running towards him. Beyond them Kha could see their attackers come out of the alleyway.

"Rifles to the front!" Kha called out and a dozen men of various ages moved forward in a line.

"Open fire!" He called out and the men began to fire.

Kha had served time in the Vacuoan Army when he was younger and he winced at seeing how sporadic their firing was. Though it was the best he could do, he turned to a tall lanky man with a shotgun that he recognized.

"Owin, grab anyone with a handgun or a shotgun and form a secondary line behind the riflemen. When I give the order I want you to cover them as they fall back then tell them to get up onto the walls." Kha didn't get to finish as Owin jumped forward to push him aside. There was a roar of a shotgun firing and someone screamed in pain. More gunshots roared out and the sounds of fighting erupted around him.

Looking up Kha could see Owin racking the slide of his shotgun before firing at a man that carried a long hafted axe. The shotgun had been loaded with red dust shells, the man fell back screaming with multiple charred pellet wounds on his naked torso.

Kha rolled to his feet and winced as he stood up. He supposed his old age would be a detriment for this as he drew his Kilij from its scabbard. A tall burly man wielding a chipped short sword and round shield came at him.

Raising his blade he met the man's sword at an angle allowing it to slide down the edge of his blade then as it hit his crossguard he pushed the sword aside. Alas the man simply smashed his shield against him and he stumbled back.

He barely had any time to turn aside the man's follow up thrust before following through with the motion bring his blade around in an overhead cut. The blade edge connected with the man's face and Kha saw the splash of blood arc through the air as the man fell.

Alas there was no time to think at how the man didn't have his Aura unlocked as a second man wielding two short axes came at him. Kha blocked one of the axes but could do nothing as the second axe came up and smacked his face with the blunt top of the weapon.

He could feel the sharp edge press painfully into his side but it wasn't able to pierce his Aura, though he reckoned that he wouldn't be able to sustain too many blows like that. Thankfully he didn't have to worry about that as one of the men that stayed behind appeared hit the man in the back of the head with a bludgeon.

Kha didn't get a chance to thank him as more of these crazed men charged them. The man that had saved him took a blade to the stomach from one of them and Kha watched as the man laughed manically as he swiftly pulled his sword out then decapitated the townsman.

All around him the townsfolk were dying, men yelled and screamed whether it was rage or fear Kha didn't know as he was pretty sure he was yelling as well. He ducked under a blow from a mace and stabbed upwards.

His blade dug under the ribs of what he was surprised to see was a woman, though the look of rage in her eyes and battle scarred body made it difficult to differentiate her from those around her.

Behind him he could hear another blast of a shotgun going off near him and Owin appeared next to him. The tall man fired again blasting the arm off another man that was beating one of the younger townsfolk to death with the haft of his weapon.

"We need to get up on the wall; we can funnel them into a chokepoint." Owin said as he racked the slide on his weapon.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" Kha wheezed, his body ached all over and he found it hard to continually block or parry the blows aimed at him. He could hear Owin call for the others to follow him, Kha jumped back as someone tried to hit him from the side.

He simply jabbed his blade forward, the sharp tip of the blade seemed to embed itself easily into the man's side. Looking around he could see the fighting shifting as the attackers followed the retreating townsfolk, pulling his weapon free he moved to follow the others.

The smell of blood and smoke seemed to choke the air around him as he entered a small doorway. The bodies of what looked to be two of the town's deputies lay against the wall both of them had arrows sticking out of their chests.

Huffing and puffing he made his way up the stairs inside the town's wall. He could see two younger teens, one armed with a handgun and the other with a long dagger watching the doorway as he came up.

Once on the wall he could see that there were less than fifteen of them standing. There was also four more people sitting against the bulwark but they looked to be in bad shape with major stab wounds or lacerations.

Kha knelt down on the wall; sweat pour off his face like a leaky faucet. Looking at the town, he could see a number of large fires being started in the distance. Large black columns of smoke rose into the air and he could still hear the sounds of people in terror echoing in the distance.

"Oh shit, look at the river." Someone whispered and Kha forced his leaden limbs to push himself up. Turning around he saw a heartbreaking sight, their attackers were out in force setting the river dock on fire.

At a quick glance he'd safely say that there had to be at least three maybe four hundred warriors butchering the fleeing townsfolk while firing flaming arrows at boats that tried to sail away.

"We have to surrender or we're all going to die!" A man screamed and Kha could see him rocking back on forth. At first he was gonna reprimand the man but he was covered in blood, the man looked up at him at him and Kha could see that there was no reason left within him.

"Moron, you've seen them, there's no way they'll accept our surrender." Another man snapped at him and Kha turned to look back at the river. He was just south of eighty and he reckoned he had lived a good life. There were its ups and downs but looking back at it he wished he could relive them once again.

"They're coming!" Someone shouted and fighting resumed but Kha didn't pay attention to it. Nor did he really look down at the massacre by the riverbank. Instead he looked to the sky, a flight of birds passed over head with the sun shining down on them.

He felt tired and was more than a little scared. Yet despite that he felt more or less at peace with himself. Someone screamed and gunshots rang in his ears still he didn't look.

After a while he realized the sounds had stopped and finally looked around him. Seven figures dressed in large spiked plate armor stood over the bodies of the men he had been with.

Looking at the stair case he could see that the two young teens that had been guarding it were cut in two, their intestines in a bloody pile on the floor. Glancing around him could see that Owin's head was in the hands of one of the warriors, the look of terror before death still etched on his face.

To his right, the man who had been screaming hopelessness had the back of his skull blown open; a handgun lay just out of reach.

One of the armored giants said something in a harsh language and pointed his large serrated sword at Kha's weapon.

For some reason Kha felt like the giant was trying to tell him something. Looking around he could see that while they all looked relaxed overall, there was a slight sense of anticipation. The giant barked out again and gestured down at the sword then to him.

"Ah, so you want me to fight." Kha said as he finally realized that the armored giant was trying to say.

"Fight or die." One of them said and Kha winced a little at the voice. It was deep raspy voice with an edge that remind him of a sharpening a knife or a man prone to violence.

Kha simply smiled as he raised his blade, the giant in front of him starting making weird gurgling sounds and he had a feeling that it was supposed to be laughter. The other plated warriors moved back to watch them.

Not wanting to waste time Kha leapt forward and the warrior moved quicker than he'd imagine anyone would in that bulky armor could. Kha immediately realized something was off as the familiar weight in his hand of his beloved Kilij sword was gone.

Looking at his right arm he casually noted that everything past his elbow was gone and blood was spilling out onto the already bloody rampart. He didn't fall to his knees no matter how shaky they felt beneath him.

As his vision began to turn to black however he looked up at the sky, the sun shone in his face but he no longer felt its warmth but he still smiled as he finally slipped out of consciousness.

The seven armored warriors ignored the old man as he fell off the wall and looked out at the burning town each reveling in their victory just as an eight warrior appeared at the staircase.

This warrior wore purplish blue armor with golden spirals that shifted and twirled on his armor. In his hand was a large serrated greatsword with bright blue runes that flowed back and forth on the dark silver blade.

Blue light gazed out of the sockets of the warrior's helm and the seven before him tapped their weapons to their helms. The warrior tapped the tip of his greatsword on the ground and blue flames erupted on the fallen bodies before him. The seven warriors before him didn't flinch or make any moves as they were all aware of their lord's sorcery.

"Oaraur, gather your marauders and take what remains of this town for supplies." The sorcerer said and a warrior holding twin war axes turned to walk away.

"When will we strike back at those imperial dogs?" A warrior with a serrated sword and shield asked but the sorcerer shook his head.

"We're not in any position to strike back at them you fool; the Great Host was shattered by them and those creatures that struck our flank."

"This world is so unlike our own; I wonder what it is the Pantheon wants us to do here?" A third asked and the sorcerer laughed harshly.

"What else would they have us do but wage everlasting war?" In the distance the Marauders by the river bank finally gathered into a semblance of organized groups then began to take whatever they could get their hands on. Food, water, fur, and anything metal to be melted down in order to forge or repair equipment.

"I still wonder my Lord, who was it that opened that portal?" One of the warriors asked. The sorcerer didn't know either as he remembered the feeling of power oozing out of it, both familiar yet alien in its nature. He didn't like being in the dark to what was happening especially when it involved him.

In the back of his mind something tickled him in a sense of familiarity. Power was being manipulated near him, power he realized much like that which has saved his forces from total ruin on that snowy battlefield.

A red and black portal opened up at the far end of the wall. His warriors raised their weapons and even he readied his greatsword.

Yet only three people came out, one of them had a crazed look in his eyes; the second was larger than the other two but simply stood there with his arms crossed. The third one was a wiry thin man with a mustache and an arrogant gleam to his eyes that annoyed the sorcerer as he did an extravagant bow.

"My Lords, we're here on the behalf of our Queen."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jaune woke up when he felt someone's hand on his arm, blinking rapidly he remembered that he was in an airship. Pyrrha was in front of him, a smile shone on her face and he gave a smile of his own.

"What's up Pyr?"

"We're descending." She said as he looked around to see everyone standing up and collecting their stuff. Jaune stood up as well and stretched his back feeling a pop that felt surprisingly refreshing.

"Are those Bullheads?" Yang called out and Jaune turned to see both teams crowding around one of the airship's portside windows. Jaune joined them and could see over Ruby and Weiss that a grey Valkyrie was in the air about three hundred feet from them.

"Why are their Bullheads propeller based?" Weiss asked.

"Actually they're a different design from our Bullheads." Ruby pointed out.

"Bullheads have a more teardrop shape but these are kind of wider if not flatter."

"They're also more armed." Blake noted pointing at the quite visible chin mounted weapon.

"What are they doing?" Nora asked.

"I'd imagine they're communicating with our pilot and dear diplomat to make sure we're who we say we are." Fusia said from behind them, Jaune turned to see the Huntress was still sitting down looking more than a little bored.

"What makes you say that?" Jaune asked and Fusia waved her hand indifferently.

"I've escorted more than a few trade convoys into the Hurin Valleys. The Creatures of Grimm have a strong presence at its boundaries. This is also why you can see the Arcadians having gunships in the air to verify incoming traffic isn't a hostile." She explained.

"Ms. Aster is correct. The Arcadians are a people that live by sword which is also why they tend to die by it." Gibeon said from the small staircase that led to the cockpit of the airship.

"I don't think that's necessarily bad, aren't we kind of like that as well?" Jaune asked but this time Ruby shook her head.

"Not really, Huntresses and Huntsmen are supposed to be symbols of peace, we're heroes that save those that can't save themselves."

"And you're saying that the Arcadians don't do that as well?" Jaune asked and Ruby shrugged.

"I don't know, I've never really heard of an Arcadian Huntress or Huntsman." The younger girl said and Jaune could see his teammates staring at him at that point so he dropped the subject.

"Whoa, so that's the Hurin Valleys?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune turned around again to see what she was talking about. As they dropped below the clouds he could see a large mountain side with tall trees covering the landscape as far as they could see.

"I don't see any town." Weiss remarked.

"That's because we're not flying straight to Nodens." Gibeon said from behind them.

"Why not?" Weiss asked.

"The towns in the Hurin Valleys don't particularly like foreign aircraft in the air space near their them as such they have their, friends, issue warnings or threats to anyone that does come too close." Fusia said before yawning.

"And occasionally they'll shoot them down before they get too close."

"How could they do something like that?" Ruby asked her voice rising whether in fear or outrage Jaune wasn't sure.

"Well during the Great War, the Mantle-Mistral Coalition would be the first ones among the Four Kingdoms to use air ships to drop bombs on enemy forces. The town of Pryderi located at the eastern edge of the Hurin Valleys would be essentially bombed to oblivion by said ships which saw to the deaths of thousands with many more injured. The Hurin people do not forget those that crossed them, as such all foreign vessels are advised to steer clear of air space above the Hurin Valleys." Gibeon explained.

"That still doesn't make it right to threaten innocent people." Ruby said.

"And it isn't right to judge a group of people who govern their territory as they see fit." Jaune said softly as the whine of engines grew louder. The ten of them could feel the shifting of pressure as the airship descended, the field of tall green trees filled their view.

As the weight of the airship finally settled down, Jaune could see ten soldiers dressed in black hard-shell armor and webbing with green woodland fatigues underneath form a line on the portside of the airship.

He suddenly felt very warm as the side doors of the airship opened with a loud hiss. Everyone was picking up their stuff but he had yet to grab his belongings.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice called out and her hand touched his arm snapping him out of his momentary pause.

"Are you okay?" She asked and he turned to see her really close to him. Her green eyes locked on his and as much as he wanted to look away he couldn't. He could see a mixture of worry and excitement in her eyes.

"I'm fine, just a little nervous is all." He said and she gave him a warm smile.

"Don't worry Jaune, I'm here for you." She said in an assuring manner so he nodded in return before picking up his bag and his sword belt which he took off for the flight but was now too lazy to put it back on at the moment.

"Alright let's go." He said after taking a deep breath and followed her towards the portside doorway where a small ramp was set down in the dirt. Ren, Nora, Fusia, Gibeon and team RWBY were all arrayed at the bottom of the ramp.

Jaune immediately took in a deep breath of the cool mountain air, which seemed to refresh him, as he walked down the ramp behind Pyrrha. However he realized that in front of the ten man squad he saw earlier were two very distinct figures.

Both of these figures wore resplendent white armor with a gold trim on the edge of their pauldrons, their black surcoats with the golden crest of his family fluttered silently in the wind. Each carried a large bone white heater shield much like his own however they carried a separate scabbard for their swords.

"Comitatus." Jaune said softly and Pyrrha glanced at him a little confused at the word.

"Why do they have your crest?" Blake accused as she spun around ignoring the annoyed hiss from Gideon.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jaune said.

"What are you hiding from us?" Blake asked as she reached for Crocea Mors and he dropped his bag to push her hand away but it was too late.

The ten soldiers behind the two armored warriors raised their weapons as the two armor plated warriors dropped into a stance with their shields held in front as they drew their swords. The blades crackled to life and Jaune could smell ozone as their energy fields activated.

"Stop fucking around." Fusia snapped as she drew her own weapons. Team RWBY also drew their weapons as more soldiers appeared to either side of the airship then multiple people began yelling at them.

"Drop your weapons!"

"Hands behind your heads!"

"Move and we'll drop you!"

"Stop! This is all a misunderstanding!" Gideon called out but it didn't seem like anyone of them were inclined to listen. Jaune sighed as he realized how right his aunt was as he unbuckled Crocea Mors from his belt and opened the shield as he stepped forward.

"My name is Jaune Arc, son of High Lord Alexander Arc!" Jaune called out raising the shield with his sword still inside of it. While the soldiers seemed to hesitate a little they never took their rifles off the, however he was mostly hoping that the Comitatus Praetorians would recognize it.

Much to his relief they did, visible relaxing they quickly sheathed their blades before dropping to kneel before him. This prompted the soldiers to relax as well before shouldering their rifles and giving a crisp salute to him.

Jaune turned back around to look at the others, Gideon and Fusia looked thoroughly confused. While team RWBY all had varied looks of surprise, Blake having a face that either suggested she felt vindicated in something while on the opposite end Weiss looked like she was in pain.

His own team just looked tired, though he didn't understand why they looked more tired than he felt at what he just did so he turned back to the assembled group of soldiers.

"Alright, who's in charge here?" One of the Praetorians looked up.

"That would be me Lord Arc." Jaune nodded.

"Name and rank?"

"Decanus Andeis of the 3rd Comitatus Centuria serving under Centurion Tava in Nodens we didn't mean to draw our weapons on you." The man said his voice slightly distorted by his helmet's built in vox.

"I understand Decanus there's nothing to worry about, as you can see I'm a part of the delegation of the Valean Envoy Gideon Nauo. Huntress Fusia Aster here is second to the Envoy so treat them according to their position that being a top priority regardless of the fact that I'm here." Jaune said gesturing to the two and there was a slight whir of motors as the man nodded then stood up to move towards the pair. Fusia had already tucked her weapons away and Gideon didn't look like he was going to have a heart attack anymore.

"I apologize for that unseemly display good sir and ma'am." The Praetorian said before bowing his head towards them.

"Ah, it's, not a problem. Two different cultures can often lead to misunderstandings at the beginnings but as long as we have an open mind I am sure things will go smoothly for the both of us." Gideon said with a forced laugh.

"Then would you please follow me." The Praetorian said and the second one stood up to move away. It was then that Jaune realized that to their north was a relatively small mountain pass, which had a large stone fortification built in front of it with walls curving backwards to connect with the mountains.

Andeis gestured for them to follow; the soldiers took up position not only behind them but on either side as well. As they cleared the nose of their airship Jaune could see that the flat ground ran eastward about another two hundred feet while only being a hundred feet wide. Yet around the middle of it was a paved road leading from the forest up to the fortification.

"Well that was intense." Yang said as Gibeon and Fusia pulled ahead to talk with the Praetorians. Jaune sighed as he tucked Crocea Mors back onto its belt and slung it over his left shoulder.

"Tell me about it." He said as Pyrrha handed his bag to him.

"Well I thought we were going to have to fight a bunch of soldiers because Blake was being a weirdo and what not."

"Yang." Weiss said as she pinched her nose.

"Oh right, rhetorical."

"What I want to know is why Jaune was lying to us." Blake asked and Jaune sighed.

"I never lied to you guys; I merely omitted something is all."

"Right, of course you would say that." She said and Jaune felt a twinge of annoyance.

"Out of all the people here it's funny to hear you complaining about something like that." Jaune replied heatedly and Blake narrowed her eyes at him.

"What? You can comment about me keeping my background secret but touching upon the fact you're a Faunus and used to be in the White Fang is off limits."

"Guys, stop it let's not fight now." Ruby said and Jaune clicked his tongue.

"You can't play both sides Ruby, I've had to listen to Blake talk shit all year long and now I've got to listen to her being a big fucking baby about this."

"You know Jaune, you act like you're the victim here but I remember seeing people in the same armor as them killing innocent Faunus." Blake said pointing at the armored forms of the Comitatus.

"Innocent? Funny I heard it was terrorists that died in an ambush when they got caught breaking the law by trying to steal Schnee Dust containers. Not only that but they were seen in the company of notorious criminal Roman Torchwick but I guess it's never their fault when they get caught in bad positions it's everyone else's fault."

"They didn't need to die." Blake hissed back stepping closer to Jaune but he shook his head.

"I guess robbing or blowing up trains, firebombing businesses and beating up or killing people are acceptable when it's humans." Jaune said tensing up as a hand came sailing for him but even as his own hand came up to stop it another hand blocked it for him. Jaune was surprised to see that it was Ren of all people that stepped in.

"You two need to cut this out." He said calmly and Blake snatched her hand out of his grip.

"This is going to be annoying." Weiss said as Blake stalked silently forward away from them, Pyrrha stepped up next to Jaune.

"Are you sure you should have antagonized her like that?" She asked and Jaune sighed.

"Maybe not but it felt more like she was looking for an excuse to dislike me."

"What was that about Faunus dying?" Nora asked.

"Ah, well you know how Ruby and Blake got in trouble for being at the Dock's the night Roman was there? Well it turns out that there were also some, people, who look like those two up there that attacked and killed the White Fang members that were assisting Roman." Weiss explained.

"Wait, then Jaune's got a point, why does Blake care that criminals and terrorists died?" Nora asked.

"It's not like that exactly Nora; Blake was once a member of the White Fang. She believed in the core values of their cause which is now putting her at odds with his people who seem to have a less delicate or soft handed approach to it." Weiss explained softly and Nora hummed a little as she looked forward again.

"At the same time, I can't really blame her for despising what happened to the White Fang. I was there and those people killed them without a second thought." Ruby said.

"It's their job isn't it?" Yang asked.

"It's thinking that it's okay to kill them without proper justice is what's irritating Blake." Ruby argued.

"Do we not kill as well?" Yang asked.

"The Creatures of Grimm are different, they're soulless monsters."

"Then what if someone, a person with a soul, tries to kill you? Do you hold back while they go all out?" Ren asked.

"I would only use what force is necessary." Ruby said and Ren sighed.

"But how do you know what force is necessary? The amount of force to put let's say Yang or Pyrrha down would be more than enough to take someone like me or Weiss however you know how much Aura we have. So what happens if you meet someone without Aura but you don't know it and so you use the same force as you would on Yang or Pyrrha and you kill them outright? How can you judge what someone else needs to do when you can't even be sure who you yourself might meet?" No one said anything as they approached the stone fortification.

Pyrrha was amazed to see the structure, it stood at least twenty feet high with towers spaced out every three hundred feet in either directions. Looking down she could also see that a ditch had been dug at the foot of the walls and inside she could see row upon row of razor wires.

Directly in front of them a heavy looking wood gate that opened up for them and they moved inside however she noticed that it wasn't a straight entrance. It hooked a sharp left and Pyrrha realized that there were metal slits built into the walls just above an average person's height.

"It's actually standard practice to not have straight gatehouses." Jaune said next to her.

"Why?"

"Well if an enemy broke the gate a simple entrance would lead to a straight shot of them getting inside. However we've constructed our gatehouses with a sharp turn that creates a chokepoint controlling enemy movement even after breaking the gates. You see these slits in the walls? They only open outward so soldiers can fire down on the enemy as they try to push through while not being able to return fire at the defenders." Jaune explained as they turned left where a second gate opened for them.

There the ten of them could see more people, mostly soldiers that sat around at tables, fires, or moved in and out of long wooden buildings. To their right, a little more than a mile away, they could see three interconnected square towers of varying heights, on the central one was a red flag with the golden Arc crest.

"That's Nimedos Keep, it's there that Major Meleshenko of the 3rd Battalion's and his command staff is located. They're in charge of the southeastern mountains." Andeis said turning to look at the group as they closed in again.

"I'd like to ask something." Gideon called out and Andeis nodded to him.

"I'll be happy to facilitate any questions."

"In the Four Kingdoms a single army battalion is generally clocked at being about seven hundred people so if we had to protect the same territory then they would be hard-pressed to complete cover the ground with so few people. So how effective could this single battalion be at their assigned role in covering the mountains and properly manning this fort?" Gideon asked.

"Well to start off the standard Arcadian battalion is a thousand fighting men and women. At the same time they're not the only military personnel here, attached to the battalion are three Heavy Weapons Companies, which essentially mans the heavy support, field guns and other defensive weaponry that you may see around us right now." Andeis explained.

"How big is the Arcadian presence here?" Fusia asked and the helmed head of the Praetorian looked at her.

"That's not important." He said simply as six vehicles appeared from behind one of the barracks near them. Jaune could recognize three of them off the bat as the standard Tauros Rapid Assault Vehicles with heavy stubbers on top. The other three however seemed to be modified versions that replaced the weapon system for additional passenger room.

"Once aboard these soldiers will escort you to Nodens where Governor Kagiris is waiting for your arrival." Andeis said gesturing to the vehicles.

"Are you coming with us?" Fusia asked Andeis but the Praetorian shook his head.

"I'm afraid not I have other duties assigned to me after I sent you on your way." Fusia nodded as she extended her hand which the Praetorian took. Pyrrha found it an odd sight, Fusia was only six feet tall with a slim build whereas Andeis was seven feet tall and much larger in the armor. Which now that she thought about it, the other one had the same build as him.

"Alright then we'll split it up. Jaune, Ruby get your teams settled in then join me and the Mr. Nauo in the lead transport." Fusia called out and the two of them nodded as all them of them split up to their respective transports.

Once everyone was in, the convoy moved north, inside them however they couldn't see out as the only windows were in the front.

Jaune however knew that there was a reason why he had been called to the front along with Ruby. Ten minutes into the journey Gibeon finally leaned forward to look at Jaune.

"So were you ever going to let us know who you were or were you hoping to keep it hidden from us?"

"I have my reasons and I did not believe it would be necessary to tell you that sort of information in the first place."

"It's necessary when we're traveling to a place that your people have jurisdiction in. Do you understand that had something happened earlier without your stepping in then Vale could be held responsible for anything that happened to you?" Gideon said as he ran hand over his hair.

"Had you told us beforehand then we wouldn't have let you come on this mission at all and as much as I would want to send you back I can't now since they know you're here already."

"I don't see why it would be necessary to send me and my team back." Jaune said and Gideon laughed harshly.

"Of course you don't get it since it's not your job to get it."

"Then why are we having this conversation."

"Because the Kingdom of Vale didn't know that it had another Kingdom's royal member amongst the population in Beacon Academy. Whatever happens to you now becomes our responsibility whether or not we agreed to it in the first place." Gibeon snapped and Fusia put a hand on his arm.

"Look Jaune, you have to realize that you're going to put Vale and essentially the Four Kingdoms in a tight position. If let's say, you get sent on a mission during a later year in Beacon and something disastrous happens like bad information and you die. Your family can use your death or injury to gain justifiable retribution against Beacon and by extension Vale. If they do that than the other three Kingdoms would be forced to choose sides. Atlas would stand by Vale as they see themselves as the shield or sword arm of the Four Kingdoms and Mistral has close economic ties with us and Atlas so they'll back us up. Vacuo would probably join as well since they're not organized enough to get into a serious fight with any Kingdom let alone yours. Which in the end would mean another Great War but I assume your people have grown in strength and power just as the Four Kingdoms have which would lead to even deadlier battles than the first Great War." She said and Jaune rubbed his eyes.

"It won't be like that, my father didn't even want me to do this and I highly doubt he would use me to justify going to war with the Four Kingdoms."

"You never know." Fusia began but Jaune cut her off.

"I do know, this is my father, my family, we're talking about here. I already have a sister that became a Huntress, if she could without any consequence then there's nothing to worry about with me. I'm trying to become a Huntsman because that's what I want to do so you have nothing to worry about." Jaune said and no one said anything as they continued driving.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

He stepped out of the portal onto what seemed to be a large courtyard with two of his lieutenants and was greeted by a strangely familiar sight. The sky wasn't blue but a dark red with a shattered moon in the horizon.

In front of him however was a person, if he had to guess it was a woman judging by figure. However even he could tell that she wasn't normal even by normal standards.

She was deathly pale which contrasted her black robes. When she turned to them he could see dark veins on her arms and face while her irises glowed a soft red. Yet power seemed to ooze off her like a dark mist, much like the mist he saw from the fallen creatures that had attacked the flank of the Great Host.

"Ah Doctor Watts, I see you brought me an interesting guests." She said calmly as she moved towards them.

"Yes my queen, this one was the only one that accepted your initial invitation." The arrogant man said as he moved to kneel in front of her but she stopped him with a gesture.

"You've done well Doctor; you may all proceed with the original plan while I talk with our guests." The woman said and he tightened his grip on his sword.

"Come now Sorcerer, I'm not your enemy." The woman said as his two lieutenants spread out to either side. Aside from him, they were the best magic casters amongst his retinue, he reckoned they could take on almost anything save for the Gods and their greatest servants.

For now that is.

"I believe we're owed some answers witch." He finally said and the woman paused

"Witch huh? I guess that's one way to describe me." Her eyes began to glow more intensely.

"I do hope that you take the care to not call me again."

"Then answer me, where are we, who are you and why did you bring us here?" He said lifting his greatsword up to rest it on his shoulder.

"Where are we? That's simple; you're in my domain. As for who am I. I'm your host that so kindly offered an escape route from the destruction of your army against our mutual enemy's forces on that snowy field."

"And who might your enemies be?" The sorcerer asked.

"Life, Death, Humans, Faunus, You, the Gods. It matters not who they might be for if they stand in my way, they are my enemies." She said with a smile and the sorcerer laughed.

"If I had the skull of every person that has said something along those lines, I would be able to make an empire out of them."

"Do not mistake me for the failures that dwell among your ranks that follow that so called Architect of Fate, I do not play anything for the joy of it, I have goals that I wish to accomplish as such I will complete them." The woman said and in the distance the sorcerer could hear howling. In the desolate lands beyond them he could see a sudden mass of creatures, the very same creatures that had robbed them of their victory.

"Why are those things here?" He asked.

"Well this is where they are made before I send them into the world." She said and he realized what she meant by that. He gripped his greatsword with both hands as his lieutenants readied their own weapons. Behind him he could hear the faint shifting of feet as the trio that brought them here reacted to him.

"I would think carefully of what you're doing there Sorcerer as this is a fight that you will not win." The woman said in a low voice, the baying of creatures increased in the distance.

"I don't know what game you're playing but you can't fool me witch as I feel you gathering your power to you in the Ether." The sorcerer said and she smiled.

"Beings more powerful than you will ever be have died trying to kill me."

"Then you have never met someone like me witch." He said as blue flames burst out on his greatsword before he lunged at her.

* * *

 **My, aren't things heating up for some people.**

 **Jaune's secret is out.**

 **Blake's got a new target to point her near destructive obsessive attention on instead of the White Fang and Roman.**

 **Ozpin's being Ozpin and Glynda's got a talk with the bank coming.**

 **Dr. Watts and his stupid mustache is disliked by everyone.**

 **Salem's throwing some shade at some feather fuck that likes to scream "Just as Planned"**

 **On a side note, no background/lore/story info for this chapter cause I forgot to edit one in time.**

 **Anyways let me know what you thought of the Chapter or the story as a whole in the Review section or send me a PM.**

 **Till Next time!**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jaune woke up when the convoy began to slow down. His neck felt stiff as even when the interior of the Tauros was modified to hold people it still didn't allow for free range of movement.

"Huh? What? Are we there?" Ruby asked bleary eyed as she looked at Jaune in a slightly dazed confusion that accompanied those still half asleep.

"I don't think so." Jaune said as the back hatch of the armored transport opened revealing a man with green reptile scales around his neck and cheek.

"We're taking a small break to refuel and rest, so now would be a good time to stretch your legs." The man said and the four of them climbed out. The skies were grey overhead but Jaune could see that they were at the foot of another mountain.

To their south was the mountain that they had come through, it looked far smaller then what it appeared when he had first seen it. However he did take notice of the fog that was creeping up on them from the west, it looked thick and almost foreboding in its slow advancement.

Looking at his immediate vicinity Jaune could see that they were in some sort of outpost. There were wooden palisades and towers with soldiers in them guarding the perimeter.

In the center was a small cluster of building, there was one that looked like a small motel complete with a vacancy sign. Then there were a couple of buildings that looked a lot like the ones that he had seen in the mountain pass fortress. A third building looked to be part garage part hanger as he could see several people working on a pair Tauroses.

Some of the local soldiers came over and started to talk with the ones that came with them. Jaune walked over to where he could see Pyrrha, Ren and Nora. Alas only two members of team RWBY had joined them, he sighed at that as it must have meant that Blake was still in a foul mood.

It was either that or she went to go find the bathroom.

"You look a bit worn out there." Nora was the first to say when he joined them.

"Well Jaune did have to defend himself from Ms. Aster and Mr. Nauo." Ruby explained.

"Ah, so I take it they weren't happy about your little announcement." Ren said and Jaune snorted.

"That's putting it mildly but I can say for sure that once my old man finds out he'll probably hire more thugs to beat me up or something." Jaune said and realized everyone was looking at him.

"Oh right, I don't think I ever told you about that."

"Well there are a lot of things you've probably never told us about." Weiss said.

"Like those scars." Pyrrha said and Jaune shrugged.

"What scars?" Yang asked.

"Our Fearless Leader has scars on his left shoulder and leg." Nora explained.

"I wouldn't say fearless, I was pretty scared when I got them cause I thought they would rip me apart." Jaune said as he folded his arms.

"When you put it like that I guess that would be pretty normal to feel." Weiss said and Jaune couldn't help but notice that the white hair girl was touching her own scar. However she masked it by rubbing her nose with a finger.

"So where's Blake?" Ruby asked.

"Bathroom." Yang explained.

"Yea I think we should take care of our own business as well. We don't know how much more we have to go before we get to Nodens." Jaune said.

"Astute observations Mr. Arc please make sure your team is ready to travel once again in ten minutes." Gideon said from behind him and Jaune turned to nod silently at him.

"Well you heard the man, you three go on and I'll see about getting us some lunch for the road." He said before the four of them broke off leaving Gideon and the three members of team RWBY standing alone.

"I guess we should follow Blake's example." Yang said but Gideon cleared his throat.

"Is there something you need from us Mr. Nauo?" Weiss asked.

"I was wondering what was your take on the situation with Mr. Arc?" He asked and the three girls looked between each other.

"I like him; he seems like a pretty cool guy." Yang said.

"He's my friend and fellow team leader." Ruby pointed out.

"I think he's a capable leader and swordsman and now if I consider what his upbringing must have been like then it's to be expected." Weiss said evenly.

"Well he did say that he lived in an Outland village." Ruby mused.

"Do you think he's lying about that? Like a cover story where he came from?" Yang asked.

"I mean it does make sense, why would an heir to a Kingdom live in some Outland village?"

"Well the Hurin Valleys have ties to Arcadia, would it really be farfetched that other Outland places have ties with them as well. The Four Kingdoms are like that with towns and villages close to their own borders." Weiss pointed out then looked at Gideon.

"I'm sorry sir, we got carried away."

"Yea, is there anything in particular that you wanted to discuss about Jaune?" Ruby asked and Gideon nodded.

"I was thinking that due to his own ties that it might be best to limit his and his team's role once we're in Nodens." He said and Ruby frowned.

"I don't see why that's necessary; he's on our side so he would probably be invaluable to you in your mission." The younger girl said but Gideon shook his head.

"In fact having him with us may in fact prevent any form of success from happening." The Envoy said and the three girls exchanged looks.

"Do you really not trust him?" Weiss asked.

"Until I can be certain of where his loyalty lies, I can never trust him." Gideon said gravely.

"And I believe you should all keep a wary eye on him as well." The older man said but Ruby shook her head.

"He's our friend." Gideon looked upon her in pity.

"That's the thing Ms. Rose, betrayal never comes from your enemies."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Jaune was following his nose, he could smell something delicious which made his stomach growl. Turning a corner he wasn't surprised to see a small area with a number of tables that had people sitting at them and eating.

"Hey kid, this is for soldiers only." Someone called out to him and Jaune turned to see a pair of soldiers walking up to him.

One was a tall thick man with a shaved head, with a scar on his chin. The other was a short tanned woman with short black hair. Both of them were stripped down to grey shirts but still had their leg armor and boots on. He also took note that they had thigh holsters on as well.

"I'm sorry; I was just following the smell." Jaune said and the tall man nodded.

"That's all well and good kid but again this is meant for soldiers. So get on out of here."

"Actually, where are you from?" The shorter woman asked.

"I'm with the convoy that just arrived."

"What convoy?" The man asked.

"Come on Brackston you didn't know? A convoy with a Valean Envoy is refueling here; they're being escorted by a Huntress and some Beacon students." The woman explained then looked at Jaune.

"Say kid, judging from that armor you must be one of those Beacon students, right?" He nodded.

"Is it true that the High Lord's son is with you guys?" Jaune smiled at that.

"You mean Jaune Arc?" The woman smiled.

"Fucking knew it, this kid knows the High Lord's son." She said looking at her compatriot, Brackston, he seemed to size Jaune up.

"Well shit, do you think you can point him out to us?" He asked and Jaune tilted his head a little.

"Why?"

"Why? What do you mean why? He's fucking Alexander Arc's only son, the biggest, strongest fucker ever to live. A man so fucking manly I doubt I'd ever see someone like him for a hundred lifetimes. Fuck I've even fought on the same field of battle with him once and trust me when I say that I could hardly believe my eyes when he ripped an Ursa Major in two with his bare hands." Brackston said then began to go on and on about some battle.

"Don't mind him kid but seriously I doubt there's anyone in Arcadia that wouldn't want to meet the High Lord's son. I mean it's not every day you get to meet a member of the royal family." The woman said.

Jaune found that surprisingly comforting to hear but at the same time it made him feel guilty on the inside. These people, these soldiers who would give their lives in the name of their Kingdom and his family seemed to have the utmost respect or love for both.

Whereas he wanted to leave it all behind him, to pursue his own goals and not have any ties with the Kingdom or really his family anymore. It was something he never really told his mentor, Areto, or his family as a whole.

Yet the impression he got was while they were reluctantly agreed to him becoming a Huntsman they'd figure that he would sooner or later return to his position within the Kingdom. He hated himself for not telling them but with them all now gone to live back in Arcadia it just ate at him a little more as there was no way he would return there on his own volition.

"Jaune?" Someone called out and he snapped his head up. The two soldiers he had been talking to looked confused at him and he realized that he must have spaced out when they were talking to him.

"There you are!" A familiar voice called out, he turned to see Nora and Ren walking towards him.

"What did she just say?" Brackston asked his companion.

"Shut up." She whispered.

"What are you doing over here? You were supposed to get some food." Nora said then sniffed the air before slapping a hand across Ren's chest.

"Ow."

"Shush Ren; I smell meat, fried meat." The girl said then looked at Jaune.

"Good thinking Jaune Jaune, nothing like some delicious meat before a trip."

"I'm sorry but who are all of you?" The female soldier asked and Nora just tsked.

"I'm Nora Valkyrie, Leg Breaker Extraordinaire and this is my partner Lie Ren, Pancake connoisseur. We've come looking for our team leader, Jaune." Nora explained and Jaune felt like sitting down at the two soldiers seemed to grow pale.

"Jaune? As in Jaune Arc?" Brackston asked.

"Uh, duh." Nora said and Jaune turned to walk away but Brackston grabbed his arms.

"You're Jaune Arc!?" He shouted and Jaune nodded.

"Uh, hi?"

"Noelle, I think I'm having a heart attack." Brackston said as he looked over at her who just opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"Do you guys want some food?" She asked her voice cracking and Jaune sighed.

"Its fine, we've got to get going anyways." He said but the female soldier, Noelle, grabbed his arm.

"You don't have to go sir; you and your friends can come in." She said but Jaune shook his head.

"No it's fine; this is meant for you all I can't just jump in on your area and take what's meant for you."

"Please, just a quick bite and you can take some with you. You're all heading to Nodens right? Take some for the road at least." Brackston said Jaune looked at Ren and Nora who shrugged.

"It's your call Jaune." Ren said and he sighed as he looked back at the soldiers.

"Fine, we'll grab something for the road."

"Awesome, you won't regret it sir." Noelle said and he waved his hand dismissively.

"You don't have to call me that, you can just call me Jaune." He said and the two of them beamed at him before Brackston wrapped an arm around him guiding him. Jaune could hear Ren and Nora snickering behind him as they followed.

All around them he could see other soldiers glancing up from their meals or conversations to look at them in confusion. A well-built but slim woman walked up to them with an obvious scowl on her face.

"Brackston, Noelle, what the fuck are you two doing? You know damn well civvies aren't allowed back here without permission." She barked but now that she was closer Jaune could see that she walking oddly and realized that her right leg wasn't real but a prosthetic as he could hear the servos in the leg.

"Sarge, we've got a good reason. You know how that convoy that just arrived was rumored to be carrying the High Lord's son?" Noelle said and the three Beacons students could see her eyes widen before she dropped to one knee.

"My Lord." She said the other soldiers around them stood up to see what was going on.

"It's an honor to meet you Lord Jaune." She said and Jaune could hear the crowd of soldier murmuring amongst themselves. Before the thirty odd other soldiers that were in the area began to kneel as well. Behind him he could hear Ren and Nora say something in what sounded like awe.

For him however, he only felt nauseous.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Alexander Arc stood on the balcony of his inner solar, the chill mountain air wrapped around him like a coat. Yet he didn't really notice it beyond its presence while most would require a jacket or sweater he was fine with a simple shirt.

Below him he could see the stone and wood rooftops of the High Citadel. Occasionally he could pick out the gold forms of the Aegis Praetorians as they patrolled the streets among the mass of other soldiers, aides, and beaurcraut.

Looking up he could see a smaller, darker tower to the north of him. It was the Tower of Bones, the resting place for the Praetorians that had fallen in the line of duty. If he looked to the east was the Sanctificetur Domus, the great Abbey home of the Sisterhood.

"Alex?" A voice called from inside, it was Arabella.

"Yes?" He called out as he turned around.

"What are you doing out there?" Arabella asked as she appeared at the balcony door.

"Ah, just thinking."

"Is it about Irkalla?" She asked but he shook his head.

"No, I reckon General Litvinovich, Sanian and Aeyr can handle it by themselves." He said as Arabella stepped towards him, shivering a little in the open but smiled nonetheless.

"My, what's this? The great Alexander Arc is letting those that serve under him handle a situation on their own for once? I never thought I'd see the day."

"The training wheels have to come off at some point."

"True but something tells me dear husband you wish it was someone else that was leading the defense."

"Bah, Jaune is far too inexperienced to have done something like that." He said and could see Arabella smiling even wider at that.

"While I find it interesting you first thought of Jaune, I was really referring to you."

"I'm pretty sure you were asking about him."

"Well I wasn't."

"I'm not sure if I believe you on that." He said and watched as Arabella sauntered up to him before putting a hand on his chest. For her it really just meant raising her hand above her head.

"I think I can think of a couple of things to convince you."

"Woman, unless you don't want our kids to see us for the next day and a half you better stop." Alexander said as a second hand drifted out of sight.

"I mean, I can clear my schedule if you want." Arabella said

"As much as I'm tempted by that I do have something that I need to tell you." He said and his wife nodded.

"Oh right, that's why I came here. So what is it?" Arabella asked as he walked back inside. His solar was furnished with dark wood, a large desk at the far end of the room with a fireplace behind it with a door on its right. A painting of his family hung above it. To either side of the room were rows upon rows of filled bookshelves.

However across from his desk was a large set of steel grey plate armor, while not the original set, he had remade his armor that he wore back when he wasn't the High Lord. Resting in its empty gauntlets was his old sword; he looked at it fondly before heading towards his desk.

Missives and reports were stacked on his desk but he had kept the last one he had read open in the center. Picking it up he turned to hand it to his wife who immediately began to read it silently, as she did so he walked around to sit in his chair which creaked under his weight.

"So does this mean Ozpin knows who Jaune is?" Arabella asked.

"Possibly, I wouldn't put it past him to have figured it out at this point."

"So he sent him to Nodens along with a Vale Envoy, what's his game? Surely he wouldn't do something without reason especially for how on the nose this is even for him."

"I think Ozpin's trying to play a game using our son as a piece. It's one of the reasons if not the biggest in why I didn't actually want Jaune to go to Beacon."

"Game? Is he trying to drop us a hint that he's got control over Jaune as long as he attends Beacon?"

"Maybe but I also think he's also trying to flush Lilith out from continuing her Operations in Vale, with the interference by some Beacon students she was forced to go to ground after not only getting exposed to Roman but nearly getting caught red handed by Vale Law Enforcement. She said that continuing for the time being within Vale would just bring down Huntsmen and Huntresses on Government contracts against her."

"So are you going to pull her out?" Arabella asked as she moved around then plopped herself down in his lap.

"No, she says she's got one last lead to look into. Something about the White Fang trying to recruit disenfranchised Faunus within the city and I trust her to do her job to the best of her ability."

"Well that's good to hear; normally you tend to chastise Lilith."

"That's mostly outside of work, once she has her head on straight she does fine in my book." Alexander explained.

"So what are you going to do about Jaune? If he's at Nodens then he's probably going to be exposed the moment he gets there."

"There's nothing I should do about that at the moment but if I had to do something then I have two options. The first option would be that I force him to leave Beacon but doing so would engrain a resentment that he might never be able to get over. The second more viable but riskier option would be to let him stay at Beacon even after it's discovered that he's our son."

"And what would be the point of that?" She asked but before Alexander could explain there was a knock at his door.

"Come in!" He called out; the door opened revealing a Praetorian in the gold and white surcoat armor of his Housecarls with his helm in hand.

"Ah, Tillenus, what is it?"

"Pardon the intrusion my Lord and Lady but Palatine Corra has sent me to inform you that Magister Dianann requests an audience." The man said.

"Did she say why?" Arabella asked as Palatine Corra was the commander of the retinue that she had placed to watch over the Magister. Who also happened to be a Mystic, something that she had to explain to Alexander then convince him to not kill immediately.

"The gates are unfurling." Alexander whispered as he knew the only reason why she'd call for them, he lifted his wife off him to stand up.

"Send word to Sedatus to form his Centuria at the Vargus Airfield." Alexander said before walking up to the door next to the fire place and opened it. On the inside of the door was a relatively thin black armored bodysuit, Arabella watched in pleasure however as he stripped himself naked before slipping the bodysuit on.

"I kind of wished you'd let me do that for you." She said and Alexander rolled his eyes.

"Well if it makes you feel any better you can help me take it off later."

"Promise?" She asked and Alexander just smiled as he folded his clothes than set them on his chair.

Turning back to the doorway he stepped inside with Arabella following him. There was a small walkway that led to a single platform which he stepped onto. She stayed back as she watched him hold his arms out to either side.

As always, she found it fascinating to watch as mechadendrite arms appeared from the ceiling to begin placing the skeleton frame of his armor over him quickly followed by the thick armor plates then fusion pack. Once everything was in its proper place, two mechadendrite arms came down.

One carrying his Corinthian helmet and the other was what most normal people would consider an almost unreasonably large greatsword.

The black blade was easily six inches wide with a crossguard that was wider towards the blade while curving slightly towards it with a black leather grip ending in a white round pommel with a sapphire looking jewel embedded into it.

The sword had an overall length of six feet but in Alexander's hand, it looked more akin to just a slightly larger than normal longsword.

"Are you coming along?" Alexander asked as he slid his helmet on, a small hiss issued out as it sealed around his head.

"I'm afraid not, Narin and Azariah wish to have me sit in on a talk about the conditions in towns in the western provinces."

"Ah, that's unfortunate." Alexander said his voice slightly distorted by the inbuilt vox system.

"You know how it goes anyways don't do anything stupid when you're out there or else I'll kill you." Arabella said sweetly before leaving him alone in the solar.

* * *

 **2 Hours South of the Arcadian Border…**

The Valkyries began to descend among a cluster of trees in the forest below as the three escort Vultures remained above. The sky was cloudy but their visibility was still mostly unimpaired.

As the back ramp of the Valkyrie opened Alexander stepped onto it before jumping off it; he fell ten feet before landing on the soft grass of the field.

In the distance thunder rumbled and he could see the flash of purple lightning over a cluster of trees. Even with the nine aircraft overhead Alexander could hear the sounds of fighting in the distance.

"Sedatus, once your Centuria is formed have them push south with the contuberniums in a ten meter pacing. I'll go on ahead and see what it is we're dealing with here." Alexander said, ignoring the protest of the Centurion.

It was about three hundred meters to the tree line and even in almost half a ton of armor Alexander was able to reach it in less than twenty seconds.

As he ran through the trees, he ignored branches and bushes that got in his way as they didn't even pose a threat of slowing him down. When he reached the next clearing he was almost thrilled to see who was fighting around a small pond.

Ahead of him were three dozen women in bronze armor with purple cloaks and waist cloths. Their enemies however were ones he was all too familiar with.

The three dozen women fought against a force nearly three times their own numbers of red armored warriors, Chaos Warriors. Even thinking of the word made his head hurt as if he had taken a direct blow from a gauntlet.

"Sedatus, friendlies are the women in bronze armor and the top knots. I'll be pushing ahead."

"Acknowledge." The man said and Alexander began moving towards the enemy.

A large warrior in plate armor that was red both from rust and dried blood turned to meet him. Twin war axes rising up to intercept Alexander's blade as it came arcing down at him.

The energized blade however clanged loudly against the haft of the weapons sending a spray of sparks into the air before cutting through them. The warrior however moved back in time only to get the tip of Alexander's sword carving a large furrow in his chest plate.

Twisting his own wrists Alexander quickly brought the sword up this time the blade carved deeply into the warrior's chest sending sparks and a splash of boiling blood into the air.

Another two warriors were already turning to face Alexander, one carrying a sword and shield while the other had a long hafted axe.

He jumped to the side as the one with the shield tried to run into him, he could feel something scoring his right rerebrace. He didn't have time to strike the shield warrior from behind as the axe wielder came at him with a wide horizontal swing.

Ducking underneath it he came up under the warrior's guard plunging his blade into the plated torso. Without pausing he quickly kicked the body away and turned aside the thrust of the shield warrior's short sword as it came at him from behind.

He quickly snapped his left elbow up crushing the front of the helm inward with a loud crack of broken metal and bone. He turned around at the sound of clanking metal and raised his sword up just in time to intercept an overhead blow from another warrior.

Behind him he could hear the sound of the Praetorians coming out of the tree line. Locking the warrior's sword with his own crossguard, he jabbed forward with his left hand putting a dent into the other warrior's chest.

He began coughing very loudly though it was muffled by his helmet, as he stumbled back Alexander quickly spun his blade around taking his head off.

Leaping forward he jabbed his blade to the side catching another warrior off guard, the tip of his sword cutting clean through his helmet leaving a vertical slit in his head.

Then he quickly spun around to knock aside another warrior's blade before sweeping down taking his right arm off at the elbow as he stepped to the side stabbing into his chest from. His sword tip emerged from the other side of the torso.

The Praetorians entered the melee at this point and as Alexander cut down two more warriors he noted with some satisfaction how well they dispatched their own foes. The red cladded warriors of the Blood God fell beneath his power weapon and armored enhanced warriors.

Alas he still knew that it didn't mean they were the best warriors. A skilled mage or warrior, a fallen Legionnaire, and the Neverborn could match or defeat his Praetorians. Elder or Alpha Grimm are also troublesome as their carapace have been known to rebuff power weapons.

Then the Ancients Creatures of the Old World that lurk in the dark corners of the world are easily more than a match than even his more skilled warriors like Forianus and Zophiel. He ducked under a mace and came under the warrior's guard taking his right arm off at the shoulder before spinning around take his head off next.

Soon enough the last of the Praetorians surrounded and cut down the red warriors. Alexander turned towards the group of women, he felt strangely relieved to see two of them walked towards him.

One was cladded in the same armor as the others; he could see several marks on the armor while residual blood dripped down the haft of her own axe.

The other looked much different; she had shoulder length red hair and was dressed in what looked to be some sort of carapace armor and armed with a bolter. Alexander watched in amusement as the Silent Sister made several signs with her hands.

"The Sister Superior wishes to thank you for coming to our aid warrior." The red head said and Alexander inclined his head.

"It's a pleasure to see and your sisters Acolyte. Tell the Sister Superior I'm here to help you all." He said and the Acolyte looked surprised at him calling her that then signed to the Sister who began to sign back rapidly.

"She wants to know which Legion are you from."

"I'm not from any of the Astarte Legions." Alexander said and could see the confusion on the Acolyte's face. So he set his blade down into the ground, the disrupter field shutting off then took off his helmet.

"My name is Alexander Arc formerly of the Legio Custodes." He said watched the Acolytes eyes widen before signing to the Sister who bowed her head which he did in return. The Sister began to sign again and the Acolyte looked up at him.

"The Sister requests to know what planet this is." Alexander smiled at that.

"My, I have a great deal of things to tell you." He said but someone shouted a warning and he spun around already sliding his helmet back onto his head.

"Custodian, what's going on?" The Acolyte asked as she appeared on his left while the Sister Superior appeared on his right with her axe ready. The Praetorians started forming up on him as well; all one hundred Praetorians were still up and active.

"What is it Sedatus?" Alexander called over the vox.

"One of the Valkyries spotted the Dozorca." He said and Alexander cursed softly. Looking around he could see that there were trees surrounding them, nowhere to run.

As if reacting to his thoughts, a fog that seemed to sprout up from the ground emerged. The filters in his helmet began to react violently unable to penetrate far in the fog.

However he noticed that while the fog was making visibility difficult, the nullification that the Sisters emitted seemed to act like a barrier around them keeping the fog from descending on them.

"Casket, this is Overlord. Have any eyes on us?" Alexander asked after switching to the vox channel of the lead Vulture that escorted them.

"What was that? We read you one by five, repeat, one by five." The voice responded.

"They're here!" Someone yelled aloud and Alexander looked up in surprise.

As coming straight at him was a four meter tall humanoid creature with a large treelike body that had a bleached animal's skull with massive antlers for a head. In its hand was a deep black obsidian rock sword that was already coming down for his head.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jaune opened his eyes when he heard the sound of people outside. Looking around he could see his team waking up as well. Looking to his left he was surprised to see Pyrrha leaning on him, she was still asleep though it didn't last for long as the Tauros hit something.

The bounce of the vehicle woke the sleeping red head up and she looked up at him with her green eyes. Jaune for a second felt a little memorized by them before clearing his throat as he looked away.

"I guess we're about to arrive." Jaune said out loud as Pyrrha sat up as well. Nora and Ren however were just looking rather amused at them.

"I can't wait to see what it's like here." Pyrrha said.

"I'd imagine that they will drop us off at the Governor's building." Ren noted.

"True, it seems like the sort of place that they would house a foreign diplomat." Jaune said.

"I wonder if we'll be allowed to move about the city." Nora said.

"I don't see why not as long as it's in our free time. Surely what business that Mr. Nauo has here it won't require our presence so much outside of ceremonial events." Pyrrha said.

"Sweet." Nora said and Jaune smiled as his team talked idly amongst themselves. He would have thought being put into a group with strangers would take a while to get used to. Now though it felt almost natural to him to be around the three of them all the time.

As the vehicle began to slow down Jaune realized that they must be almost there. The noise outside also seemed to be growing louder to the point that occurred to him that there really was a high chance of a ceremony for their arrival.

For him this wasn't a good thing as he remembered that by the time they had reached that outpost word of his arrival had already gotten there.

"It sounds like a crowd is outside." Pyrrha said.

"You think we just came in time for a festival or something?" Ren asked but she shook her head a rueful smile on her face.

"No I'm almost certain that this crowd is meant for us." She said.

"Oh right, you're pretty famous as well." Nora said and Pyrrha laughed.

"In the Four Kingdoms maybe but I think we all know who this crowd is probably for." The red head said as she and the others looked at Jaune.

"Well I guess this will be a new experience for all of us." Jaune said as the Tauros came to a slow stop. The noise outside was much clearer now that it easy to tell that it was cheering and the back hatch opened revealing a soldier in full kit holding it open for them.

Jaune allowed for the others to go first before picking up his own stuff then following them. The faceless helmed soldier threw him a crisp salute which Jaune returned.

The noise was crystal clear outside and Pyrrha could hear a great deal of voices calling for Jaune either with his last name or what she assumed his title was. Looking down she could see that they were on a paved concrete road and a grey sidewalk was nearby.

She stepped onto it with Ren and Nora to her left while Jaune came up on her right. Past him she could see team RWBY with Ms. Aster and Mr. Nauo to their right as well.

In front of her was a white marble step which led up to a wide three story brick building with a marble column front. On every fifth step was where the same armored warriors, Praetorians if she remembered what Jaune said in the Tauros. They still looked awe inspiring in their white armor with gold trims and black surcoats.

Between each of them however were four soldiers wearing black coats with grey low waist trousers that had red stripes going down the sides. With what she assumed were medals or other military insignias on their coats while wearing white gloves and peaked hats. At their waists she could also see swords in red cloth scabbards.

Coming down the stairs however three people, on the left there was a woman in a sharp black suit with a white blouse underneath.

To the left of the woman was a middle age man with greying hair that wore a simple but finely made black suit and black tie.

Behind them was a tall Praetorian with armor constructed in the same fashion as the other Comitatus Praetorians but this one had an identifying mark, a red transverse crest on the helmet.

Looking to her left and right Pyrrha could see people dressed in what she was able to recognize as black protective vests over blue jumpsuits that were holding the crowd back. She could see that they were using clear looking shields with batons in their other hand.

"Welcome honored guests!" The man bellowed as the trio got close to them. Pyrrha could see the man shake Gibeon's hand before shaking Fusia's hand next.

"It's an honor to meet you Governor Kagiris." Gibeon replied and the man smiled.

"It's always a pleasure to meet someone from the Four Kingdoms."

"I can say the same but I can scarcely imagine that it would be such an event for all these other people to come like this." Gibeon said and Kagiris smiled.

"I'm afraid that they're not here for you Mr. Nauo but there's the rumor that you've got the High Lord's son amongst your retinue." If Kagiris noticed the twitch in the envoy's face he paid no heed to it.

"That's understandable I suppose." And the Governor nodded before looking down the line of people then back at Gideon.

"You must all be tired from your trip, let's head inside." He said then the two men proceed up the stairs which prompted the soldiers and Praetorians to draw their swords as they held them up at an angle. The sudden crackle of the strange energy that emitted from the swords of the Praetorians was loud enough for Pyrrha to hear.

Fusia stepped forward with the other woman matching her step as they followed them. The Praetorian however looked at Ruby.

"You may come." A distorted voice female voice said making the younger girl flinch at first but she nodded as the white armored Praetorian moved up the stairs.

Ruby looked at her team then at Jaune who looked at her, she nodded. The eight of them proceeded up the white marble steps. As they climbed higher Pyrrha could see that the other buildings nearby were made from what looked to be a combination of concrete and brick with brownish red roof shingles.

Every direction she looked all the buildings seemed to be well made and maintained with clean looking streets. To the west she could see what looked to a large stone castle that was erected on a hill slightly above most of the rooftops of the buildings.

Past them she caught a quick glimpse of mountains. It was also at that point she noticed that the white armored Praetorians had sheathed their sword and were forming up behind them on the steps while the soldiers continued up the sides.

"You have to admit, they do look intimidating." Weiss said.

"Makes you wonder what they're like in a fight." Yang said and Blake snorted.

"I don't think you'd want to fight them."

"Ah come on, I bet me and Pyrrha could take them."

"Pyrrha sure but I think you'd have a hard time." Jaune said and Yang laughed.

"That's funny Jaune, for a second there it sounded like you'd say I'd lose."

"Not necessarily but I just think you might be overestimating yourself while you underestimate them."

"Hey there's nothing wrong with having some self-confidence." Yang said.

"I don't know Yang you kind of dance on the line of self-confidence and over confidence sometimes." Ruby said as they reached the top of the stairs.

There two glass doors opened up by a man and woman in the same uniform as the other soldiers. The group walked through them into the building.

The lobby had white marble floor with brown walls, in the center Pyrrha could see a red carpeted set of stairs that went up two landings which she assumed were also the other floors. Looking straight up she could see a crystal chandelier that emitted a soft glow. Behind them on the wall above the doorway there was another red flag with the Arc crest on it.

"Aina here is my personal secretary; I have something I need to look into as such she will lead you all on a tour of the building then show you to your rooms where you can unpack after which dinner will be served." Kagiris said gesturing to the woman next to him before turning to walk up the stairs leaving her and the Praetorian there.

"Well then, if you all will follow me please."

* * *

 **Later…**

They all sat at a long table covered in white linen, in front of them were platters of food for the taking. Various slices of meat, potatoes mashed or diced along with bowls of salad, crisp fresh bread, fruit, and pitchers of beverages such as water or juice.

Fusia, Gibeon and Kagiris however were all drinking some liquor which Fusia seemed to be enjoying quite well.

"So tell me Mr. Nauo what has prompted the Kingdom of Vale to sending a Diplomatic Envoy to the Hurin Valleys."

"Why Governor it's merely to establish a mutual benefiting relationship for our prosperity." Gibeon said as Kagiris swirled the contents of his cup.

"Interesting as last I checked the Hurin Valleys did in fact trade lumber, fur and produce with the Four Kingdoms via the Outland towns already. Though let's be fair it only benefited one group which is the Four Kingdoms." The Governor said and Gideon tilted his head a little at that but Kagiris continued talking.

"The reason I say that is because of the import tariffs that you have on our biggest product, lumber, which makes me lose a lot of money since I have to keep the bulk of the industry up by giving tax subsidies and payouts. This just leads to a deeper hole for them as the Hurin Valleys can't compete with the other Outland towns that have free trade agreements with the Four Kingdoms."

"But wait; can't you just impose an export subsidy for your lumber then? Then you can offload more lumber to the Outland towns even with a diminished price." Weiss surprisingly asked from down the table.

"We've done that before but we can only sustain it for a short time as the Outland towns don't want to flood their own markets with our lumber. Do you know how much lumber we produce?" She shook her head.

"Nearly five million cubic meters of lumber were produced in the last 2 years and only 3 million were sold off even then at half price."

"If you're selling that much lumber at what you say is half price, how have you been managing this far with the costs? It sounds like the lumber industry is in serious debt."

"Aye, it has been losing me money but Arcadia tends to send financial aid every two years which helps me stop the bleeding for a while along with easing the debt enough that it doesn't just collapse the industry. Plus with the increase of Grimm activity to the south east which is preventing a lot of Outland towns from getting their own lumber we've been able to sell more for a better price which is keeping us above water this year."

"So then this is the chance for you to make some real money if the competition is out of the way."

"Not really, as I've said before trading directly with the Four Kingdoms isn't doing us a big favor. For instance Atlas has a large need for lumber but they've has a fixed tariff that imposes an additional thirty percent tax based on the price we plan to sell it at. Then Vale and Mistral have no need to buy lumber from us as they've got enough Outland towns and villages to buy from for cheaper prices due to close vicinity. Vacuo surprisingly has no tariff on us however the cost to ship it across the Sanus Sea means only those with the biggest capital can ship it to them or get them to collect it from us directly." Kagiris said as he downed his drink.

"Do you know how much the Hurin Valleys lumber industry is in debt?" He asked but no one answered.

"In the last five years the industry should have brought in about eighteen million Liens however the cost from equipment, wages, medical or paid leave, treatment of wood, transportation, fuel, parts, trucks, the wages for soldiers sent to protect them and forest restoration is nearly seven million Liens which they have to pay before and during. So it's written off the total revenue, then add in all the economical bullshit that I've already mentioned the actual profit for the lumber industry as a whole comes out to less than two million Liens. That two million then goes back into the industry for the next year's cost, so they're start off down almost five million Liens before they even start cutting down trees for lumber." Kagiris said.

"Which is why I'm here, the Kingdom of Vale has changed. We no longer wish to alienate the Hurin Valleys but help them."

"Help us in order to help you." Kagiris said and Gideon shrugged.

"Isn't that what it's always about, to prop each other up so that we both may survive and even profit."

"The question is, though what happens when someone steps away from that arrangement."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby asked looking at Weiss who leaned in.

"He's asking what happens if he gets hung out to dry." She clarified then looked up to continue listening in on the conversation.

"I'm starting actually to question why it is that I accepted you and your offer to come here. A part of me doesn't trust a diplomat that has nine Aura enhanced individuals, all of whom are trained to fight. I can scarcely imagine what it is he thinks he may need them for." Kagiris said.

"To be fair, Ms. Aster is the only full fledge Huntress. The other eight are merely students from Beacon that need to shadow a professional in the field for their curriculum." Gideon said.

"So these eight students, one of whom also happens to be the Prince of Arcadia, are all sent here to shadow Ms. Aster as she protects a diplomat that's come on the behalf of the Vale Kingdom?" Kagiris asked.

"Governor Kagiris, it sounds to me that you're about to accuse me and by extension my Kingdom."

"Maybe I am." The Governor said coldly.

"I think that's enough for today." Aina broke in, Kagiris glanced at her and even Jaune could see the fury in his eyes. Yet the older man merely took a deep breath in before exhaled slowly then smiled at Gibeon.

"My apologies Mr. Nauo I guess my mother's choleric nature got the better of me there." Kagiris said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin before folding it then setting it on the table.

"Its fine Governor, politics can be a stressful matter." Gibeon said standing up to shake the other man's hand as he stood up.

"It's a pleasure meeting you all; please by all means continue with your meals. The cooks put a lot of effort into their dishes to make you all happy. Then when you're ready call for Aina and she'll take you back to your rooms." Kagiris said before exiting with Aina, who bowed to them, in tow.

"Well, that was a thing." Nora said after a few moments of silence with the occasional clinking sound of utensil on plate.

"The food is good at least." Yang called out to which Nora cheered as the two began to have an eating contest much to the disgust of Weiss who complained as loose bits of food arriving on her plate.

"Stop acting like fools, can't you see the waiters laughing at us?" The white hair girl hissed them but Yang and Nora just looked at her perplexed with cheeks filled with food.

"You think Kagiris hates us?" Ruby asked as she looked across the table towards Jaune and Pyrrha who sat together.

"I can't really guess what's on the man's mind but I do think he is a little frustrated with the Four Kingdoms."

"True, I know my father would be pissed if the Kingdoms acted against him like that." Weiss said.

"I don't get it, why do we have these, tariffs, in the first place?" Ruby asked.

"Politics Ms. Rose, it's always come down to politics." Gibeon said from the front of the table.

"I think we should change topics, is there anything you need from us Mr. Nauo?" Pyrrha said looking at the Envoy.

"I don't believe so; Ms. Aster is there anything you want to say?" The woman leaned forward, a cup still in her hand.

"Look for the duration of this mission you are in fact free to do whatever you want within the town unless me or Mr. Nauo say otherwise, we're guests here so do not under any circumstances make trouble for the people of this town or break any laws, lastly be back here before ten at night." The Huntress said and the eight of them nodded.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

It was starting to get dark outside when Jaune stepped onto the west balcony. The hustle and buzz of the town could still be heard but in the darkness of night it still felt subdued.

Behind him, the others were settling into their new place. There was a massive lounge with conjoining bedrooms and bathrooms for everyone. Jaune finally decided to go back inside as the cool night air was much colder than he had expected.

"I'm stuffed." Nora said just as he entered back in.

"That's because you ate four plates of meat." Ren pointed out.

"Yea but I still think I could have won." The shorter girl said and Ren just shook his head.

"The food was good though, wasn't it?" Pyrrha asked looking at the two of them. Jaune looked around and couldn't see anyone else.

"Yea, they make some pretty good steaks." Nora said as she rubbed her belly.

"Where are the others?" Jaune asked finally speaking up.

"I think Ruby and Weiss still want to get settled in first and Yang said something about a food coma." Pyrrha said.

"And Blake's in her room." Nora said then looked at Jaune.

"Do you think she hates you now?" Jaune sighed.

"I don't think she hates me."

"You say that but she all but glared at you and Governor Kagiris during the dinner."

"Well let's be fair, there was a lot of glaring going on during that dinner." Pyrrha said.

"Yea let's just forgot about that, what about Fusia and Gideon?" Jaune asked.

"Well Fusia apparently took a bottle into her room with her so I think she's going to be busy." Ren said.

"Oh and Mr. Nauo went out as well."

"Did he say where he was going?" Jaune asked but Ren shook his head so Jaune just sat down on one of the grey couches next to Pyrrha.

"So what did you guys think about today?" Jaune asked.

"Well Nodens seems to be just like how I remembered it." Ren said first and Nora nodded before clapping her hands.

"Oh! We should go see if the Sulias is still there." The bubbly girl said.

"Sully what?" Pyrrha asked.

"Sulias, it's the name of the orphanage we grew up in." Ren explained.

"Ah, well then if you don't mind me asking. What was it like?" She asked.

"Living in an orphanage?" Ren asked and she nodded.

"It was an interesting experience. There were some bad memories but there were some good ones as well."

"I loved Sister Resael; she was always so nice to me." Nora said.

"That's because whenever Sister Hildiro got mad at you and put you on time out but Sister Resael would let you go early." Ren said and Nora just smiled as she lightly elbowed him before her smile disappeared.

"It's a shame she never came back." Nora said.

"Never came back?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yea one day she had a bag packed and so did most of the other Sisters. She said that they had to go do something and would return in a week. Which they did but Sister Resael, Celia, Letana, and Rienno never came back." Nora said as she stared off into the distance. Jaune however realized that Ren and Nora had been in an orphanage run by the Sisterhood.

While a great deal of the Sisters were healers, teachers, and aides. Their primary function was to fight, so that must have meant that these Sisters were called away to face the Grimm at some point and died.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Pyrrha asked suddenly looking at Jaune, he blinked.

"What?"

"Well you are royalty aren't you?"

"I don't see how that means I would know what exactly happened."

"He's got a point Pyrrha besides we both figured out a long time ago that they died." Ren said.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Its fine Pyrrha but I've got a question for Jaune now." He said looking at the blond teen.

"Go for it."

"What's the story with those, Praetorians?"

"I'm not sure what you mean?"

"Well, who are they? I've never actually seen anyone wear armor like that before." Ren said and Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

"Even when I was in the Mistral Tournaments, I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear armor quite extensively as they do. Even you don't wear armor that covers you as thoroughly as theirs does."

"I mean is that really strange?" Jaune asked.

"Kind of? We have Aura, what would we need armor for?"

"Why would you not have armor? It's not like Aura is infinite."

"True but it weights nothing whereas armor does." Ren said.

"Look I don't know why exactly they use armor but I know it's been working for them."

"What I want to know is what's with their swords. When they unsheathe them, there's some strange electricity or something that emits from them." Pyrrha said.

"They're power weapons." Jaune said and the three of them just looked at him oddly.

"Look, all I know is that it's something that was created that makes the weapons dangerous even against those with Aura and before you ask me how or what I mean. I honestly can't tell you because I've never actually seen them used before and definitely don't know how they work."

"Can I ask a question?" A new voice asked the four of them turned to see Ruby and Weiss coming into the room.

"I guess." Jaune said.

"Well it's actually has to do with you, ever since we found out that you're from Arcadia. I've been wondering why you decided to come to Beacon in the first place. I mean those Praetorians seem to be professionals in their own way, surely you could have become one of them."

"Wait, are you asking why I'm becoming a Huntsman?"

"Maybe? I don't know I was thinking that they were just what you called your Huntsmen and Huntresses." The younger girl asked and Jaune just smiled.

"The Praetorians aren't Huntsmen or Huntresses."

"They're not?" She asked.

"Not really, they're more like a branch of the Military."

"So do you have any Huntsmen and Huntresses?" Weiss asked.

"Nope." He said and could see the looks of surprise on their faces.

"Then who fights the Grimm?" Ruby asked and she flushed when Jaune just looked at her with a blank stare.

"Obviously the military Ruby, the Four Kingdoms have their own militaries as well don't they?" Jaune said.

"Yea but after the Great War and Faunus Rights Revolution, armies are really just used to help Huntsmen and Huntresses." Weiss said.

"But wait, doesn't Atlas claim to be the most powerful military? With its Academy tied deeply with its military so in a sense most of the graduates there just become soldiers instead so I don't really see how this is a problem or really complicated." Jaune said.

"Fair enough but back to my original point, why didn't you just become a Praetorian?" Ruby asked and Jaune shrugged.

"I didn't have that option open to me and even if I wanted to become one now it's too late."

"Too late?" She asked and Jaune hesitated.

"It's complicated, I don't know much and what I do know I can't say." Jaune said.

"As for why I wanted to become a Huntsman, I just, well, I guess in a sense I didn't want to get stuck in what my family is doing." Jaune said.

"I mean, my family rules a Kingdom and has this powerful army at their beck and call yet they don't really do anything with it aside from defending the borders. Sure there was the Great War and Faunus Rights Revolution but other than that they have done nothing."

"I'm sure there's more to it Jaune." Pyrrha said but he just laughed bitterly as he finally began to unload his feelings.

"My family blames for the Four Kingdoms for pushing them away in the first place but I don't ever remember hearing or see them trying to actually make amends for the past and try to work with the Four Kingdoms. Even now it's Vale that's trying to open the channels of diplomacy yet Kagiris was nothing but spiteful to Mr. Nauo, I just couldn't live with it. So I convinced my parents to send me to Beacon though they think I just want to expand my horizon before coming back to take my place within the Kingdom and be some high ranking officer in the military or something. In truth the moment I graduate from Beacon I'm planning on disappearing. I'm gonna go to ground until I'm sure that they would no longer look for me. Then and only then can I do what I like and help people." Jaune said and realized what he said when he looked up to see their shocked faces.

"Jaune you have no idea how much I can relate with that but don't you think you're taking that a little far?" Weiss asked.

"Maybe? I don't know Weiss, I really don't. I mean deciding what to do with my own life seems easy but if ever get on the throne then I'll be responsible for millions of lives. Not just within the Kingdom but I'm partially responsible for the Four Kingdoms and the Outlands in how I might deal with them." Jaune said.

"What do your parents think about ruling?" Ren asked.

"I don't know exactly how they feel about it, I know my mother loved staying in Avalon but was more than willing to go and deal with a situation in Arcadia when they called for her. As for my father I can never tell what he thinks, a part of me feels like he enjoys isolation but on the flip side he might actually miss being in the action more often than not." Jaune gave out a choked laugh.

"Speaking of my, father, the more I think about it, the more it feels like he's not even human. More like something with an iron strong will, like a machine. He wouldn't hesitate about sending men and women to die. Or maybe even waging wars that would leave the world devastated if he thought he was justified in doing so. On the other hand when I think that one day I could be dealing with all those people, those lives, their children and their futures its terrifies me to my core." Jaune said softly oblivious to the looks of concern on the faces of everyone there. Though before anyone could say anything there was a knock at the door, Ruby was the first to react and went to go open it.

"Uh, Jaune." Ruby called out and the blond team leader looked up to see the armored bulk of a Praetorian filling the doorway.

"Lord Arc, the Governor has requested your presence." The Praetorian said with a feminine voice that was slightly distorted by the helmet. Jaune said nothing as he stood up and walked after the Praetorian who had already disappeared from the doorway. When the door closed with a soft click, no one in the room said anything for a few moments.

"I, I didn't realize that was what he was thinking." Ruby was the first to say.

"I guess we can see that as another reason why he was so nervous to come here." Ren said.

"It must be hard to do something that would be tantamount to betraying your family; I could never imagine doing that." Ruby said.

"I can." A new voice said and the group looked up to see Blake standing at the door to her room.

"When your ideals become so important to you there comes a point where you must chose. Are your ideals more important to you or are the people around you more important. I faced that choice not once but twice. The first time led me down a dark path that I doubt that I can ever forget but the second time I turned to step into the light once more. That light led me here to you all and despite how I can be bitchy sometimes, I would never regret meeting you all and calling you my friends." The dark hair girl said and before she knew it Ruby had her arms around her.

"Aww we love you too Blake." Her team leader said and Blake looked up to see Weiss come in for a hug as well. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora however just looked at each other.

"What do you two think about Jaune's predicament?" Pyrrha asked.

"Honestly, I think he's deluding himself." Ren surprisingly said.

"He's deluding himself? What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"I think he's letting his feelings influence his actions, I can understand the fear of the heavy responsibility that ruling a Kingdom might have but hiding himself from his family? That's ludicrous, to think he is thinking of taking such a selfish action of hiding from them until they stopped looking for him, it kind of makes me mad." Ren said.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh, we don't know what his family is like." Pyrrha said.

"True I don't know but as such I can only make a judgment on what I do know Pyrrha and only until then can I make a different judgment."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Jaune stood in front of a set of doors; the Arc crest was carved in the center. Behind him he could hear the soft whirr of servos in the Praetorians armor as she moved past him. She raised her shield then set it on her back with a soft click before pushing the doors inward.

"Governor Kagiris, Lord Arc is here." The Praetorian said before stepping aside, allowing Jaune to walk into the room.

In the center of the room was a long dark wood conference table. At the head of it was Governor Kagiris, at his shoulder was Aina. Seated to his right were eight men and women in army uniforms.

To his left was a female Deer Faunus then a red robed man, which Jaune reckoned from a Mechanicus as he had two mechanical arms sprouting from the back of his red robe. However other than that though much of his face and body were covered in his robes. Finally there was a tired looking man with thin grey hair in the soft body armor of the Arbites.

"Lord Arc." Kagiris said as he stood up, the others at the table doing so as well before they bowed at the waist to him. Jaune wanted to scream at them to stop but he knew that he needed to keep his feelings his check.

"Please, no need to bow to me." He managed to say evenly as he reached out to take the chair closest to him which put him facing across from Kagiris.

"So now that Lord Arc is here we may proceed." Kagiris said and Jaune cleared his throat drawing the older man's attention.

"Yes Lord Arc?"

"Uh, proceed with what?"

"Why, the meeting of course."

"Okay, uh, but why am I here?" Kagiris tapped his forehead with his hand.

"Of course, I forgot that you're new to this Lord Arc. You see there are a number of reasons why I brought you here, the first being of course who you are. It's customary to have any of the Arcs present in the Hurin Valleys to be invited to sit in on these meetings. The second reason is because we do have to touch upon the fact you arrived here with the Valean Envoy which we will get to. The third reason is because of what you're doing. We all know that the High Lord had taken his family out of the limelight and the Kingdom in order to have you all experience a more normal life, however with your family returning back to Arcadia and you being allowed to attend Beacon we reckoned that the High Lord did so that you can experience life on your own in the Four Kingdoms, in short a learning experience. So I figured what better lesson would there be to allow the young Lord to have a part in the activities of the Hurin Valleys for his stay." Kagiris explained but Jaune just left like slamming his head down on the table.

"I'm, uh, flattered?" Jaune said slowly and Kagiris just laughed.

"Don't worry Lord Arc; you don't have to stay here for the entire meeting. Aina or I will give you the signal when you can leave." Kagiris said.

"Oh before we begin, I think everyone here should introduce themselves." Kagiris said nodding to an older woman in an army uniform

"I'm Brigadier General Alrun Meidner, commander of the 13rd Brigade, these are my Battalion Officers." Meidner said gesturing to the others.

"I'm Administrator Clare Verdot." The Faunus woman said.

"And I'm Magos Etruscus Mir, at your service." The man in the red robe said.

"Name's High Marshal Galleren Lore of the Arbites." The last man said.

"Oh and before I forget let me also formally introduce our Centurion Tava." Kagiris said and the Centurion emerged from the shadows near him.

"It's an honor to meet you Lord Arc." She said and Jaune stood up holding his hands up.

"You don't have to bow to me Centurion Tava as it's my pleasure to be meeting you." Jaune said and the Centurion looked up at him. Though he didn't really have a clue at what she was thinking inside her helmet before she stood up.

"Well then! Now that introductions are all out of the way then let us begin." Kagiris called out as Jaune took a seat again.

"First I believe I should say that news has arrived from Arcadia in regards to the fighting in Irkalla. The Enemy has been beaten back; General Litvinovich has her Field Army within the Province along with a sizeable force of the Sisterhood and a couple of Praetorian Cohorts that are being led by Canoness Superior Sanian and Champion Forianus." Kagiris said and one of Meidner's officers made a small motion.

"Yes Major Rappiot?"

"Has the High Lord taken the field?"

"No the Canoness and the Champion petitioned to lead the reinforcements while Litvinovich has overall operational command." The Governor said and Jaune was surprised to see a look of relief emerge on the officer's face.

"Have any of the other Northern Provinces come under attack?" Another officer asked and the Kagiris nodded.

"Most of them have had skirmishes erupt on their borders as the fighting as riled the Grimm near them." The officer nodded and Kagiris looked around the table.

"Any questions?" He asked but no one said anything, as he was focusing on keeping his interest distant from the issue.

"Well then let's move on, the next thing is in regards to Vale."

"You mean the Envoy?" Verdot asked and the Governor shrugged.

"Yes and no but let's first talk about this Envoy. Lord Arc?" He asked and Jaune snapped his head up.

"Yes Governor?"

"What's your assessment? Is this some ploy by the Valean to get a foothold within the Hurin Valleys and do more economic damage from the inside?" He asked and Jaune felt annoyed at how distrustful the man was but kept mouth long enough to focus his thoughts.

"I don't believe that there is anything malicious on Mr. Nauo's part though he has yet to let me know of what sort of dealing he's trying to offer. Overall I would encourage understanding and cooperation." Jaune said hoping his words might plant a seed of trust in the man's mind.

"I see, so they're playing it close to their chest. I wouldn't be surprised that's the case since he found out who you were Lord Arc. I would like to apologize on behalf of my men for breaking your cover." He said and Jaune wasn't sure what just happened so he just nodded.

"It's fine Governor, no need to apologize."

"Anyways Director Lilith Arc has also requested military support in a mission." Kagiris said and this got Jaune's attention as he knew his aunt was in Vale.

"What is it that she needs? I thought she had an infantry company and an Umbra Contubernium attached to her." Meidner asked.

"She says that she's found evidence that her target has gathered a large force of the White Fang at Mountain Glenn. However she believes that the force at her disposal isn't going to be enough and requests at least two additional platoons." Aina clarified.

"I see, Alfhild, who's off rotation right now?"

"That would be 2nd Battalion; they're billeted in Rotona at the moment."

"Alright contact Lailer and see if he can get a couple of platoons to volunteer." Meidner said before looking at the Governor.

"Did the Director give rally coordinates?"

"Yes, Aina give them to the Brigadier. Tava, remind me again how many Praetorians do you have with you?"

"Two contuberniums besides which Governor their duty is here." Tava responded.

"Right, right, anyways if that's settled with there's another matter that's come to my attention in regards to the Grimm activity as of late." Jaune noticed the shift in tone at that and leaned forward a little.

"Reports have come in indicating that there's a buildup both to our southeast and as usual the west. The question I'm asking is where should our attentions be? The southeast has already had several skirmishes with the two Outland towns taking heavy hits and were nearly overrun before our leading elements got there. Even then a number of people have fled northwards towards us. Lore? Do you have a grasp on the situation?" Kagiris asked and the tired looking man nodded.

"I already shifted four hundred Judges towards Iouga, so with the eleven hundred I've already got on the ground there they should be able to maintain peace for now. However my captains are already telling me that there's about another two thousand on route with more on the way as the Grimm are hitting more and more Outland villages and towns. By the time they reach there however I should have another batch of Judges ready to move out to help but after that the Army is going to have to take over as there's not enough Judges in that valley to spare unless we want to transport them to the villages but they're even less equipped to handle that."

"Let me know if or when you want me to issue a limited Martial Law within the valley that way I can drum up some Auxiliaries for you to use." Kagiris said.

"Now then as for the West, Major Wiscard's your 5th Battalion is stationed to the west. What do you have for us?" Kagiris asked.

"As usual I've got two companies scouting the western Turin River and its many tributaries. It was two squads that were a few days march from the Turin River that saw the Grimm on the south side of Aericura Fields. They said that they estimated that were at least twenty maybe thirty thousand. If that's true then that is on the large size of previous attacks over the last decade. The problem is they were unable to ascertain whether or not the Creatures of Grimm were actually coming towards us." Wiscard explained.

"Even if we don't know if they're coming I believe it would be imperative to strengthen our western line." Kagiris said.

"Governor, do you really think that's a wise idea? If we start shifting assets west then word will spread and that will only serve to put the people on edge which in turn will definitely bring the Grimm down on us." Verdot said.

"That's a good point but we should do something, surely Meidner could shift a company from each of the other Battalions to head west or something." Kagiris said and as the Brigadier General began to talk Jaune notice Aina walking around to him.

"You can go now Lord Arc, I'll write down notes of the meeting for you to look over later." She whispered and he nodded then stood up. He didn't say anything as he just left the room, the Praetorian that had guided him there followed him out as he made his way back.

He knew that he would have to tell the others what he heard; a part of him realized that it might be a breach of trust to tell them the contents of a meeting that they obviously had no place in as they were outsiders. Yet he himself wanted to be one of those outsiders.

Deep inside Jaune a part of him realized that his desire to be free was doing more damage to him than it was good.

What point was freedom if it meant having to sacrifice everything he loved and knew?

As his desire to break free from what he saw as the hypocrisy of his parents was in fact hypocritical in itself as he could be the change that he thought was best.

Instead of facing the problem though he was instead running away from it while lying at the same time. What was the point in asking his father to be more open in regards outside when he couldn't even do the same?

He shook his head; it wasn't his fault that he was doing this. No, he was merely going to show his family why their method was wrong but doing exactly what they are doing.

As Kagiris said, it was all just a learning experience.

* * *

 **Earlier that Day…**

Alexander angled his sword down in its high guard allowing the obsidian blade to slide off it, which showered the ground in sparks at their contact. Yet the Dozorca's weapon was unscathed from the disruptor field on his power weapon, which wasn't surprising.

Although he had been hoping the presence of the Silent Sisters and their null field would interfere with them physically, such as their weapons, but it seemed that was not the case.

The Acolyte was nearby with her bolter and fired twice. The bolt rounds struck with a mighty crack, the first hit the Dozorca in the arm sending an explosion of wood fragments while the second hit the side of its chest.

The bolt round exploded inside the Dozorca sending wood fragments and green ichor out in a spray at the Acolyte making her look away.

Alas the Dozorca was not defeated that easily as it turned in a flash far faster than what one would think something that big would be capable of doing.

The Dozorca's obsidian sword came for the Acolyte but Alexander was able to get between the blade and the younger lady. He caught the sword with his crossguard and grunted as he pushed up sending it overhead then slashed downward as soon as it cleared his helmet.

His sword hit with a thump as the energized blade dug deeply into its torso, smoke curling up from either side of the sword wound. In the corner of his version he saw a treelike fist sailing towards him and only had enough time to pull his sword out as it struck his stomach launching him several feet back.

The Sister Superior and Acolyte were not cowed by this as they joined in fighting it. The two of them worked well together, the Sister Superior would duck in for quick strikes with her axe while the Acolyte danced in and out of the Dozorca's reach as she fired her bolter.

But the battle overall was not just limited to them, as two more Dozorca's appeared from the encircling fog. Alexander moved to intercept them, turning aside a sword thrust from the second one and ducking under the axe swing of the third.

He came up slicing the wrist of the axe wielder; the axe fell to the ground with the Dozorca's fist still around it. The stump of its arm was black and smoke curled off it but it didn't even register the loss of its hand as it swung its other arm at Alexander.

Ducking under it he quickly launched himself forward slamming his blade into its chest before pulling bringing the blade out of its shoulder. Behind him Alexander could hearing a choking cry of pain and looked over his shoulder to see the second Dozorca's sword embedded in the chest of the Acolyte.

The young lady was crying out in pain as she was lifted off the ground with the sword sticking out of her chest.

She gripped the sword either trying to keep it from moving or to push it out. Either way it was too late for her. The Dozorca gripped her head with its other hand then pushed down with the sword splitting her open a spray of blood and entrails on the grass.

Two more Silent Sisters and three of his Praetorians moved towards them now as Alexander backed away from the edge of the fog. More and more of the Dozorca were coming now.

"Overlord, this is Casket. We're going to open fire around your last known position, if you're still there make sure you don't wonder into our fire." The voice of the Vulture's pilot crackled through his helmet.

"Sedatus close up and keep the Sisters and their Acolytes close to you." Alexander called out.

"Acknowledge." Came the reply of his Centurion, he could see the Praetorians closing up around the Sisters. Heavy caliber gunfire began to thunder out but the fog's unnatural properties were dulling the sound.

The sound of heavy footsteps behind him however made Alexander turned around to see another Dozorca with something that resembled a hammer in one hand while it dragged a Praetorian on the ground. The red surcoat was in tatters with the chest plate having been caved inward.

Alexander leapt to the side as the Dozorca's hammer arced down at him. It quickly brought the hammer around in a backhanded swing which Alexander ducked under as well. What he wasn't expecting however was the Dozorca to use the limp body of the Praetorian as a weapon as well.

The limp armored form of the Praetorian slammed hard into Alexander spending sparks into the air as the two of them flew backwards together.

He shook his head he pushed the lifeless body off him and looked up to see the foot of the Dozorca above him. As it came down Alexander raised his left hand and caught the foot stopping it from coming down on him.

He reached out for his sword that he had lost his grip on then raised it up to stab into the knee of the other leg. The blade passed cleanly through the knee and Alexander pushed to the right ripping it out of the side of the leg the Dozorca fell to its knees.

Alexander could see the green glow within its animal skull head just before he shoved the point of his shoved into its face. The glow within the skull died out just as several thumps echoed nearby which must indicated that the Vultures were using their rockets as well.

Pushing the dead Dozorca off him he stood up to see that the Dozorca were disappearing into the fog once more. Bolters cracked after them but none of the shots landed any killing blows.

Looking back at the first Dozorca he fought he could see four of the Silent Sisters lifting up the mangled bodies of the two that had fought within him.

Alexander had missed the Sister Superior getting her head crushed by the Dozorca when she turned to confront the one that killed the Acolyte.

When the last of the Dozorca left from their sight, the fog slowly began to lift. As it did the vox channels were restored and Sedatus called the Valkyries and Vultures down on their position to pick them up.

* * *

 **2 Hours later …**

Alexander now stood in a hanger on the Magstein Air Base in the Alyzeia Province. It was from here that he and Centurion Sedatus had originally launched from out of Arcadia towards the source of the disturbance.

Now though he was here to see the bodies that died in service to him and the Kingdom. Along with those that died on a world that they did not know yet still fought valiantly.

In front of him were three rows with a dozen bodies each that lay under white sheets on tables that had been set out in the hanger. Almost all of them were stained red by the occupants underneath them.

Most of them belonged to the Silent Sisters, a few of their Acolytes with nine of them belonging to his Praetorians.

However he had twice that many that had been wounded from the Dozorca. These Beings created seemingly by Nature all seemed to be strong counteracting agents to the Creatures of Grimm.

The Creatures of Grimm were a void in nature, destruction given form in this world originally created by a god that left many millennia ago. The Dozorca had come sometime later as those that fight physically and psychically to bring Nature into balance.

Alas as the fate of the Grimm is tied with Man and Faunus the Dozorca would kill them as well if it meant achieving balance.

* * *

 **Ah that angst.**

 **And what's this? A new enemy has appeared, one that isn't from RWBY based or Warhammer Fantasy/40k? I wonder what it's supposed to be, though if you think you know what they are then go ahead and call it out in the Review section. Think of someone with 2 swords.**

 **Anyways, I've got another information blob for ya'll to read after this. This time it will be in regards to the Praetorian Armor, which again, takes influences from a variety of things so feel free to call out what you believe they might be.**

 **On a side note about A Dance of Death, the work on that is surprisingly slow for me but there is some progress on it.**

 **Anyways that's it for now.**

 **Till Next time!**

* * *

 **Praetorian Armor and Weapons**

The Praetorian Armor, formally known as Praetorian Mark VI, is in fact the second generation of Power Armor within Arcadia that's dedicated for the Praetorian Legion.

Before that the armor used was just simple if not well crafted plate armor of various designs. Each weighing in around 150 kilograms but even the Praetorians couldn't last more than half a day of heavy fighting in the armor as even at their peak physical form they weren't strong enough.

So Arcadia began research into the power armor of their most valued members which is when the Mark V was born.

The Mark V while the first large step in creating power armor, it would only make it into experimental production just prior to the Great War.

A frontline Praetorian Centuria would volunteer to test the armor out, when enough suits of armor were made though the Great War would have already broken out. When Arcadia finally got involved, Alexander would send four full Praetorian Cohorts as a vanguard to a Field Army that would make landfall in Northern Sanus.

There the armor would showcase in giving a great deal of strength to the user that they could overpower nearly any opponent even in a twenty to one ratio save for the gargantuan Grimm or natural Creatures.

It was also there that the problems of the armor would be disastrously seen after the near destruction of the Praetorian Centuria at the siege of Frostbay at the hands of a combine Mantle and Mistral assault.

The drawbacks of the armor were seen as while it gave tremendous strength it didn't fully protect the wearer while also being far heavier than what the unaugmented Praetorians at the time could handle plus having a short power supply that required charging every ten to twelve hours.

As such the armor was marked as a failure as the Praetorians resorted to their traditional heavy plate armor which handled fine during the Great War.

When the Great War ended, Alexander tasked the Mechanicus to start working on a new suit of power armor. The next mark wouldn't come to fruition until almost fifty years later in what would be seen as the current Mark VI.

This armor took inspiration from the Power Armor worn by Talbek, Zophiel and Forianus along with the plate armor that the Praetorians have long worn.

As such the Praetorian Mark VI has the appearance of an enlarged Plate Armor of the Old World from the sabatons to the visored Helmets.

The plates are structured with an outer layer of an inch of ceramic plating with an inch and a half of a new titanium alloy that's three times stronger for less than half the mass or weight of most titanium alloys.

In addition a layer from a recently created material called Diamene is sandwich between the two metals along with another layer on the inside of the plate. All of which are interconnected allowing for the user to be safely sealed once inside.

On the back of each suit is also a small half cylindrical housing unit which contains a small fusion reactor that powers the suit; while a Praetorian can move with it offline the weight of the armor would effectively slow them down to the point that they're highly vulnerable.

At the same time, the fusion reactor is in fact the most armored and advanced portion on the Praetorian. The fusion reactor has multiple built in programs that would react to a number of situations as it has sensors not only built into the housing unit but with the armor as well.

If the armor sustains too much damage for instance the complete destruction of a vital plate section like the torso then the inbuilt program will safely shut the reactor down rendering it inert.

In addition if the housing unit itself is sufficiently crack, senses outside tampering or forced removal of the housing unit it will shut the reactor down.

Once a forced shutdown happens the reactor would not be able to start up again on its own power as it would require the power equivalent of at least two other fully operational reactors to get it working again.

Not only that but it's difficult to access the reactor programs without the necessary authorization key of an Arcadian Magos. If it's somehow started without the key, the program within will being an immediate meltdown that would end in a blast the equivalent to three 800mm high explosive shells going off.

Underneath the thick plates is a multiply layered Nano-composite Graphene bodysuit which is a thick padded suit that provides a vital role to both the user and armor.

As not only does it protect the Praetorian by absorbing any kinetic energy or pressure that would come through the plate with an additional layer of Diamene on the front and back of it. Inside are electrically motivated fibre bundles that proved additional strength since it covers most of the body except for the neural sockets and head.

The electrically motivated fibres react to the motion of the user then amplifies the force used thus increasing the strength behind the initial force by at least a factor of three.

This however can pose a serious danger to unaugmented people as the amplifying force would easily be stronger than what they can do alone as such it would shred ligaments, muscle, pull limbs out of sockets and break bones. This would lead to a chain reaction as they spasm in pain which further breaks them apart within the armor.

Even Praetorians understand that it will take time to adjust to the enhancements of the armor.

As such new Praetorians are instructed to wear their armor every second of the day in order to do tasks such as picking up a glass cup as they eat to spending several hours doing armed and unarmed combat training. Just as they have trained their augmented bodies when they were younger they must grow accustomed to controlling this new power.

In addition the armor also takes a page out of their parent armor. It has internal systems that can be accessed which allow the user things such as Photo lenses, Auto-senses, a Respirator Vox and a Life Sign Monitor which can inject painkillers into the user. All of these can be seen or activated from inside the helmet.

None of this would be possible though without the surgical procedures involving sockets being melded into the Praetorians spine. These sockets allow for a neural connection to the armor thus allowing it to be truly worn as not just a suit of armor but almost like a second skin.

However there's a hidden problem that wasn't seen until after this process was done, over time

Thus the armor can keep its occupants alive in some of the harshest conditions from blistering heat to the piercing cold by being able to regulate monitor and regulate internal temperature of the sealed armor. While also being able to withstand a heavy barrage of heavy caliber infantry weaponry that could rip apart a light armored vehicle and to certain extent hits from vehicle mounted weaponry or indirect explosives.

As for the weapons of the Praetorians, they can be seen as rather old-fashioned.

The Praetorians mainly use bladed weapons, such as the iconic poleaxe which they have been using since their early days in the Old World before Alexander even became High Lord.

Along with that they're known to use longswords or arming swords that may be paired with heater shields. These weapons while available to any Praetorian but mostly are stuck to certain sections.

The Frontline Cohorts, Umbra and Aegis Cohorts all mainly use Poleaxes save for those feel more comfortable using other weapons. The Comitatus Cohort however tended to be armed with large heater shields in tandem with arming swords as they see it as a symbol of their duty in protecting.

At the same time certain individuals within the Praetorian Legion have completely different weapons. For instance Alexander is armed with what would be a greatsword for most people while the Legate is armed with a Glaive; the Senior Tribune is armed with a double headed battle-axe.

However no matter what weapon the Praetorians have, they are all power weapons. These weapons were first created just before the Great War and only now have reached a level of practical usage.

The first generation power weapons could only remain active for little more than three hours. As the encompassing energy fields destroyed the weapon they were fitted to by eroding them to nothing.

Afterwards the end of the Great War the next generation would be created to replace the volatile failures currently used. These new power weapons would decrease their volatile nature in destroying the weapon but were even less likely to last. As the power needed to sustain them could only last for about an hour in an idle state.

In about a decade the problem was fixed to a more acceptable state as the power lasted for a full day on idle or six hours with heavy usage but the eroding effect returned albeit at a much slower pace of about a week.

In the last twenty years the current breakthrough in constructing new power weapons was finally made. This generation of power weapons can last a full three weeks with the energy field on but with no usage. While lasting for a full week of heavy usage before having to replace the energy source.

While the eroding effect is essentially gone, veteran Praetorians still have the inclination of tending to their weapons whenever they get the chance.

As for where the power source is held, in swords the power source can be found within the handle. Whereas poleaxes their power is held close to the head of the weapon and can be accessed by the removal of the langets.

In the scenario of Aura versus a Power Weapon, it's been shown that Aura isn't that strong against Power Weapons.

In documented cases during the Great War and the Faunus Rights Revolution, a Power Weapon doesn't fully deplete the user of Aura; it instead simply breaks though the section of Aura at the point of contact.

In a few cases, Aura has been shown to slow down the weapon as some users describe the experience as if their weapon was submerged in a thick gooey substance. However it never last for long as the power weapon would eventually break the opponent's Aura.

In the case of firepower or lack of, this is something that Arcadia has been meaning to fix. So far the Mark VII is in the works, a suit of armor not necessarily meant for all of the Praetorians but certain contuberniums that are meant to have enough firepower at their disposal to make up the otherwise lacking thereof within the Centuria.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

He was surrounded by destruction, blue fires dotted the area and little pieces of glass were still falling from the shattered windows.

Nearby he could see the large burly man attending to the arrogant mustache man, who had a large gash in his right arm. His lieutenant, the one who had delivered the blow, lay headless on the ground.

The large man had stabbed himself with some strange crystal which had given him unusual properties to kill the warrior.

His standard bearer was also dead, lying next to the exhausted form of the mutant who he had nearly choked to death before getting stabbed in the face with the stinger.

"I believe you understand your position in all of this." A calm voice said above him, he looked up to see the pale witch stand over him with her hands clasped in front of her. He might have responded but he found it difficult to find the strength to say anything, he supposed the giant glass like spike in his chest had something to do with that.

"No quips? No slurs? Nothing to say? My, that's a first for your kind." She said and he got the distinct impression that she was messing with him.

"I suppose we should get back to business. The reason in which I summoned you here was simple; I saw the potential for you to do something worthwhile instead of just throwing yourselves at a well-crafted bulwark. For all your claims of otherwise, when presented a challenge you'll tackle it head on either with gore laden violence, jolly entropy, tantalizing seductions or the use of mystic powers. To me that's foolish, why grind your blade dull fighting where they want to fight you? No, a smart commander fights where the enemy doesn't want to fight, which goes back to how I saved you from that frozen wasteland. However there is no such thing as a free favor, I need something new to break my own deadlock, my enemy has become complacent. They expect mindless violence from my end but unlike them I am not afraid of changing tactics I do not wish to hide my intentions in the dark like they do. I am not a liar." Her pale face filled his vision. He realized that he should have already died; he had no strength left to craft a working to keep him from bleeding out so it must be her.

"Help me defeat my enemy and your own enemy will follow soon after. As that shift in balance will be the key to victory, when these lands burn in the fires of war and destruction they will come as they always have." She smiled though her mouth began to extend and curl in a viscous mocking of a human smile.

"When they do we shall divide and conquer." Her face snapped back to normal, or as normal as it was before.

"Now then, I would like to hear your answer though I supposed I should let you up." There was a snap and the glass shard broke apart in a puff of black smoke. Looking down he could see the hole in his chest plate but underneath his flesh was unmarred. He rolled to his feet, his chest ached but he was able to get to his feet with relative ease.

"I will help you." He said and the pale witch smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that, I will return you to your men with your instructions but first I need you to kneel before me and swear fealty." Inside his helmet he narrowed his eyes as he thought about what might happen if he refused. Glancing to the side he could see his broken greatsword, the top half had shatter to fine dust before she had impaled him.

"I swear to you that my life and the lives of those that follow me shall be yours to command." He said as he got to one armored knee.

In the distance, an incalculable horde began to bay up towards the shattered moon.

* * *

 **2 Days Later…**

Lilith Arc stood on top of a half constructed building, behind her thirty soldiers in full kit where setting up camp on the floor. Some shoring up doorways while others were setting their gear down, for this mission the soldiers were required to pack for an extended combat mission.

An average soldier rucksack contained a bedroll, an extra liter size water canteen, two MREs, extra ammunition, a small medical field pack, a metal canteen cup, entrenching tool, a compass, extra socks, a magnesium fire starter, a field repair kit for their armor or helmet, fragmentation grenades, smoke grenades for signaling or concealment along with other items that a soldier might need.

Though other soldiers, such as heavy weapon specialist also had to deal with heavy equipment parts and ammunition on top of a regular load.

"Ma'am." Captain Hansen said from behind her.

"Is everyone in place Captain?" She asked and the soldier appeared to her right then began to point to various locations.

"I've got everyone spread out in sections of three. Yullen's has the scouts on the ground already looking for any sign of the White Fang but so far they've reported just a few packs of Grimm but they haven't picked up our scent yet so we're good on that account."

"Well I doubt that they're going to be out and about during the day time. It would probably draw too much attention from the Grimm if they do that." Lilith said and Hansen nodded.

"Well we did draw in a lot of attention by the Grimm when we got here, but I still stick by the decision for a fast hard drop." Hansen said.

"And like I've said, I don't blame you for that choice Hansen. You're the soldier, I'm not." Lilith said then gestured towards the street.

"Besides which the White Fang is filled only with Faunus, so I would wager that they do most of their patrolling at night since they would have the advantage against Humans."

"Ah, yea I guess they would stick to that strategy since it's worked for them before." Lilith nodded silently before Hansen went back to checking on his soldiers. She felt a little distracted; something was telling her that there she was missing something about this mission.

It may have to do with the fact that Varah had reported seeing one of mechanized walkers from Atlas at the White Fang recruitment meeting which she found very troublesome. Lilith hadn't heard of any reports of a train getting hit that contained military supplies.

To her, that meant that the Atlas Military was keeping that information close to hand since Ironwood was making waves in the Vale Council. Or more likely it was an SDC supply train that was hit, which would make sense as to why something like that wasn't reported.

Across from her in the shadows of a collapsed corner building that had the layout of a diner. Two White Fang grunts watched her with binoculars.

"What's that human doing here?" Asked the shorter of the two before fiddling with her mask, her tusks always pushed up against the mask much to her annoyance.

"You know you can always just ask for a new mask or say that you need to make adjustments." Her partner said.

"I mean I could but you know that I rather not be a nuisance."

"Come on, you won't be a…" He didn't get to finish that statement as there was a sharp crackle behind them. The two of them spun around to see two black armored figures standing behind them with poleaxes poised overhead, the metal heads glowing blue as tiny arcs of energy danced on their surfaces.

The taller White Fang grunt drew a pistol only to watch as a spiked hammer head came down. In his mind everything seemed to slow down as the hammerhead descended on him before speeding up just as it struck him.

In an instant his hand was gone; steam or smoke was wafting off the stump of his wrist as the edges were charred from the heat. Blood however still pumped out onto the dusty floor covering it in the gore or fleshy bits of his hand and heated fragments of the shattered pistol.

"Huh." He said as he stared at the missing hand before the spike head of the poleaxe ramming into his face caving his skull inward as it breached the other side of his head pinning his body to the wall.

The shorter girl however jumped to the side to try getting away but the second poleaxe slammed down on her leg. She could hear a sharp crack as it came down behind her and she yelped as pain flared briefly from her right leg before falling down on the ground.

When she tried to get back up to her feet she found much to her shock that her right leg had seemingly gone numb below the knee before falling over again. Looking down she could see that there was in fact nothing anything past her knee; she looked up to see the plated warrior pulling the poleaxe up from the ground where it was embedded.

She could see the ground was glowing white from where it was but most importantly on the other side of where it had been was the other half of her leg.

She looked up at the armored warrior; she could see a soft red glow being emitted where she assumed the eyes were. Her body felt cold and she just wanted to closer her eyes in hopes that when she opened them again she might find herself at home.

She could see the armored warrior raising the poleaxe again and she finally realized that she was going to die. Just as the head spike came down to penetrate her chest she whispered one last word in an accusing tone.

"Monsters."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Pyrrha watched as Jaune sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time in the last hour. Ever since Jaune had come back from that meeting with the Governor a few nights back he seemed to have fallen into a foul mood.

She wasn't sure why, though if she had to guess he was feeling upset at the situation. Kagiris had told them the morning after that the Creatures of Grimm were on their way to their western border.

Mr. Nauo of course asked if this was going to be a problem for them to which Kagiris said that Nodens shouldn't be in danger however if they wished to leave early he would arranged for transportation.

The Envoy of course went out to talk with the Governor in the hallway before saying that they have until Friday morning to decide if they want to stay or leave which would cut the trip early by two days.

Ms. Aster however had offered to give her assistance to the Governor but he declined which caused a small argument.

Ms. Aster insisting that it was her job to fight the threat of the Grimm when she can but Kagiris said that in the Hurin Valleys Huntsmen and Huntresses don't have that sort of jurisdiction. Ruby of course was on her side, Yang also itched for a fight but she was also mindful that the decision didn't lie with her.

Weiss was neutral, stating that since they were students on assignment the decision belonged with their supervising Huntress. At the same time saying that since a sovereign group didn't necessarily want them to act within their territory that they had to abide by their rules.

Ruby surprisingly argued against that saying that protecting people is more important than rules and regulations.

Blake however was the one to bring about the current situation however. As she pointed out that they had a royal member amongst them that could easily make an exemption for them.

Jaune had simply left the room, which promptly ended that discussion. So now it seemed that their mission would end a few days early since they had no reason to stay any longer as Mr. Nauo was trying to quickly wrap up his business with the Governor.

Nora however had suggested that she go and be with Jaune to see if she can help improve his mood. As such they had spent the last day and a half together as they walked around Nodens. Which in all honesty Pyrrha found amazing as it was so nice here with the people even nicer it seemed.

It didn't have the smoky sea smell that she had started to associate with Vale, but the crisper cold mountain air of Mistral that she enjoyed.

"You don't have to follow me Pyrrha." Jaune said and Pyrrha looked up to see him smiling albeit a little sadly at her.

"It's not that I have to, it's more like I just wanna spend some time together." She said and hurriedly added.

"You know, as friends!" Now she wanted to slap her forehead at how dumb that sounded but Jaune laughed softly as he stopped to let her catch up to him before walking side by side with her.

"Jaune, you know you can tell me anything right?"

"Yea I know Pyrrha."

"So you'll tell me if anything is bothering you?"

"I guess."

"Then what's bothering you?"

"I'm not sure."

"Not sure?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, there's something I want to do but the more and more I do it the more I feel just, wrong. Like I'm forcing myself to do something that's hurting me because I feel like I have to." He said and Pyrrha felt a pang of companionship in her heart that made her feel a little warm.

"Actually I know what that's like." She said and Jaune glanced up at her.

"Winning four Mistral Regional Tournaments in a row, it's put me in an odd position. At first I enjoyed the accolades of winning then when I won the second time that's when I noticed that something was happening. People showered me with unending praise and even businesses such as the SDC began to look at me then I got the Pumpkin Pete's sponsorship. But at the same time I noticed that the people I had been friends with in Sanctum were a little tense around me. I didn't know at the time what they were thinking so I figured it was just the normal stress of combat school. So I would offer them help whether it was studying or fighting. I didn't realize that it made people feel even more distant from me as my own hard work seemingly outshone their own effort which made them feel, as one person later told me when we graduated, unworthy. When I won my third tournament that's when it became clear that the path I was on had a near irreversible effect on my life. My friends and classmates at the time began to distance themselves from me, I was popular but not in the way that allowed for something real when I tried to hangout or talk with people I could feel that they weren't being themselves and it hurt. It got worse when people stopped talking to me all together, not out of spite but just separating themselves, there were days that I didn't even speak to anyone, aside from maybe answering questions from a teacher, until I got home. Now you may be wondering why I would continue on and do a fourth tournament? Well I felt I had to participate because if I merely stopped because I wanted to be liked then it would have undermined the work I put into bettering myself." Pyrrha said.

"Wow." Jaune managed to say and Pyrrha laughed.

"Yes, I suppose that is a lot to take in."

"I mean, I figured it must have been rough from how you seemed whenever you or someone brought it up but that's rough."

"It was but in the end I did what I thought was right and while it sort of forced me to move Kingdoms it finally did lead me to people I can call friends." Pyrrha said as she smiled at him and Jaune was forced to look away as he could feel his face heat up. On the other hand Pyrrha felt like her heart racing again and she was pretty sure it was because seeing Jaune blush.

A part of Pyrrha had always realized that out of everyone she had met so far in Beacon, the one person she liked spending her time with the most was Jaune.

Now she didn't have much confidence in her socializing ability outside of formal events but even she understood that she liked him. As her heart always picked up pace whenever he was around and she had the desire to be next to him.

However she didn't know how to approach Jaune as for one she didn't know if he would like her in the same way, which if he didn't then things between them would probably be ruined. So much to her regret she knew that she would have to keep her feeling bottled up for the time being and sadly she found that easy to do.

"Look over here Pyrrha." Jaune's voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up. They had reached the Turin River; the massive river ran through Nodens as it travelled from deep within Sanus to the western coast.

The water looked clean and calm that Pyrrha honestly wanted to jump in it though she knew that the Turin River at its deepest was seventy five feet with currents far too strong for anyone to swim in.

Looking up however she could see three ships that were very low into the water. As they got closer she could see that it was three Dry bulk cargo barges were coming from down river, each being two hundred by forty feet.

As she looked to either side of the river she could actually see other small vessels in its waters, most of them looked to be civilian or merchants based. However she also spotted a dark grey vessel with a gun mounted on the front deck, as the grey vessel coasted by she could see a second gun on the backside.

"Styx Patrol Boat." Jaune said gesturing to the grey vessel.

"Since the Turin River so large they needed a dedicated force to patrol it as the main strength of the Army Brigade defends the mountains and land based towns." Jaune explained.

"I thought the towns in the Hurin Valleys were all based on the river?" She asked and Jaune shook his head.

"They were but during the Great War the Four Kingdoms destroyed a number of the river towns and the people never went back to them." He said and the two of them stood there in silence listening to the water or boats with the background of the town behind them.

"I kind of wished we could have left Nodens, I feel like it would be nice to be amongst the forests here." Pyrrha said and Jaune hummed a little. She frowned at that.

"Jaune."

"Yea Pyrrha?"

"Do you really hate these people?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean about what you said; do you hate these people so much that you would throw away who you are?" She asked and Jaune lowered his head.

"I guess but I don't hate them, I swear, it's not the people I hate."

"Then is it your father you hate?"

"Yes? No? Pyrrha I don't actually know what to say about that as I'm still trying to answer it myself." She put a hand on his arm.

"Jaune, what is it that made you hate him? You're his son and he's your father that's not something you can throw away so easily."

"I never imagined that it would be easy Pyrrha but a part of me feels like it might be necessary. He wanted me to be a soldier or really anything besides a Huntsman, as the amount of faith he had in me was a thousand times more than the amount of Aura I had before Initiation. And yes I know my Aura wasn't unlocked at that point but you know what I mean." Jaune rubbed his face with both of his hands in annoyance.

"He wanted me to be a soldier that he could control, to stay in his shadow. It frustrated me to no end when I realized that my dream, my life, was something that I might not be able to control if I listened to him. To him, his son is nothing but another tool that needs to be wielded by him as he thinks there's nothing else for me." Jaune said and Pyrrha didn't say anything at first.

"I'm sorry Jaune but I disagree." Pyrrha said after a few moments and he glanced up at her.

"You say he had no faith in you and that he just wants to control you but from where I'm standing I think he was just pushing to see if you can stand up for yourself. I mean look at you Jaune; you're far stronger now than you were at the start of the year. That's not because of Ozpin, Goodwitch, Oobleck, Peach, Dillinger or anyone else. It's because your own effort, just like with me and the tournaments. So at the end of the day it doesn't matter who's behind you, next to you or even ahead of you. All that matters is you and your skill that you've cultivated yourself." She gestured out at the river.

"Honestly, I think your father just didn't wish to lose his son so he offered an alternative career that essentially does the same thing. You said it yourself; the soldiers put their lives on the line to protect these people. Isn't that what you want to do, isn't that what you're trying to do now? Protect people?" She said and Jaune didn't say anything as he looked at the water. She wasn't sure where that had come from but it seemed like the right thing to say, Jaune didn't look at her so Pyrrha just turned to look back at the river.

"Thank you Pyrrha." He said after a while before turning to walk away and Pyrrha couldn't help but smile the entire trip back.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Varah and the newest legionary in her contubernium followed from a distance behind the White Fang patrol. They had spotted the five Grimm masked members looking for the two that they had killed earlier that day but thankfully they didn't investigate the buildings in the square that the company was holding.

Now though she wanted to see where they were coming and going from. As the entire day her legionaries and the company's scouts were unable to find anything to indicating their base of operations.

"Ma'am, shouldn't we wait for the infantry company and the rest of the contubernium?" Kemmler asked over the vox channel.

"If we lose sight of them waiting for the others we might tip them off by the activity especially at night." Varah said.

"But you're right; I want you to stay here and wait for them then come find me." Varah said as she moved out into the street.

"Yes Decanus." He said as Varah moved out into the street. As the White Fang patrol disappeared around a corner she moved to follow them however she stopped when she heard a crack then gripped her poleaxe in both hands as she looked around.

When there was another crack followed by the ground shifting under her feet, she cursed to herself as she looked down to see spider cracks forming all around her. She activated the power field on her poleaxe as the ground began to give way. Just as she lifted one foot, the other one felt all resistance in the road disappearing.

As Varah struggled to reach safety she swung her poleaxe down into the road ahead of her hoping that it would catch and keep her from falling. Instead, as the weapon dug into the ground, it too gave way but the poleaxe was snatched out of her hand as she fell.

Everything was a blur as Varah fell and it wasn't long till she landed on her back with the crunch of metal. Her vision swam and she blinked a few times as chunks of concrete fell on her before seeing her poleaxe falling down on her.

With a split second decision she clapped her hands together and caught the blade of the poleaxe a few inches from her face with her hands.

She screamed at the burning sensation as she tossed her weapon aside then rolled onto her knees. Her hands felt as if they were on fire, true to thought she looked down at them she could see the inside of her gauntlets were bright red from the brief contact with the power field.

As her armor injected her with a heavy dose of painkillers, that barely masked the pain. She however realized to some extent that when the time comes where she must remove the gauntlets the results will be even worse.

"What the fuck was that noise?" Someone shouted and Varah looked up to see two White Fang grunts coming through a door.

"Who the fuck is that?" One of them asked and Varah wasted no time in charging them. In a manner of seconds Varah was on the first one with a high kick with her left leg.

Her armored leg hit his neck with bone breaking force that sent him to the ground. She didn't know if he had Aura or not nor did she check as she immediately followed through with the motion to do a wheelhouse kick that hit the second man in the face sending him to the ground as well.

Neither of them made a motion so Varah was finally able to look around. She knew that she was indeed underground but as she looked back where she fell she could see that it there was more to see. Walking up to the edge she could see that she was in fact in some massive cavern.

In the distance she could see more half-finished buildings but more important in the middle was a large train. Using her helmet's optics Varah could distinguish the uniforms of a lot more White Fang members, if she had to guess there had to be hundreds of them down there.

"Decanus?! Are you there?" Kemmler called over the vox.

"I'm here." She said after a few moments.

"What happened?"

"The road collapsed and now I seem to be in a cavern of some sort." She said.

"Are you stuck down there Decanus?" He asked.

"No but listen, there's a door and I've already run into two White Fang members. So go and tell the Lilith that I have found the White Fang, it's an underground base and they seem to be loading up on some kind of train."

"Hang tight Decanus, I'll bring the rest of the contubernium here and we'll find something to climb down to you."

"No, if I recall the mission briefing said that the original inhabitants of Mountain Glenn used an underground rail system to transfer supplies and people between here and Vale. Then they used it as the last means of escape or hope for the expansion when the Grimm came in force before they could establish a proper defense. Focus on locating an entrance, then tell Hansen he should deploy his company down here while having the two extra platoons look for additional entrances to secure in case they try to run." Varah said as she looked down at her hands. The metal looked like it was cooling down so she tested her hands but closing them.

She found closing her fingers to be difficult and reckoned that the heat must have distorted her gauntlets. Varah sighed as she turned to the two White Fang grunts, the first one still hadn't moved but the second one was groaning as he lay on his side.

Walking up to him, she could see that his mask was shattered from her kick. His face was already swelling up heavily with bruising that looked like someone had dumped a mix of black and purple ink on his face. A puddle of vomit mixed heavily with blood and broken teeth lay next to his head.

"Hey asshole, are you done bitching?" She asked using her armored boot to tap his shoulder. Honestly she was surprised to see what he was alive; she chalked it up to his Aura which seemed to have barely saved him. He mumbled something but Varah was unable to make it out so she leaned closer.

"Look, I don't have the patience to sit here all night until you finally grow a pair and tell me what I want to know." She shifted her foot over to his outstretched hand.

"So you see, since I can no longer use my hands I think it would be fair if I relieved you of your ability to use your own." She said before stepping down on his hand, crushing it with relative ease. The White Fang member started to scream, loudly.

Varah went to work.

* * *

 **Sometime Later…**

Roman sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time as he checked the latest manifest. While he was no stranger to managing large scale operations, trying to keep the White Fang in check and supplied for the plan was stressful.

"I fucking hate this." He said as he tossed aside the clipboard on a wooden crate filled with Dust rifles then took out a cigar.

"First there's the debacle on the docks, in which I find out the one Kingdom that actually seems to get things done nowadays if in a bat shit crazy way is looking for me. Now to top it all off, my balls are being used as decoration on that crazy bitch's wall while she had me babysitting these fucking animals." When he spotted his new assistant Perry looking at him oddly with a new clipboard, he realized that he said that a loud.

"Not you Perry, you're a blessing." Roman said as the bespectacled Faunus handed the clipboard over. As Roman took the clipboard, there was a muffled boom that reminded him an explosion.

He pleaded with all of his heart that none of the White Fang members accidentally set off an explosive charge. So he looked up to see several dozen of them running out of one of the building. A few of them seemed to have the mind to stop and fire at something only for gunfire to be returned.

Most of them would fall over, though those with either their Aura unlocked or just a larger of amount of it didn't fall down.

"Run! They're coming!" Someone was yelling.

"Uh, sir?" Perry asked and Roman just put a gloved finger on his lips.

"Please Perry, just, let me have this moment of peace." Roman said with a heavy heart. Soldiers appeared in the distance in the black clothing and armor with eight of those same black armored warriors from the docks leading them.

"Fuck."

Everything fell apart at that point, the White Fang that hadn't seen what was going on but heard came running to see if the Grimm had found them. Instead most of them were greeted by a hail of gunfire or energy covered weapons that cut Aura, armor, weapons and flesh with relative ease.

Roman had his White Fang Lieutenant order everyone onboard as a few hundred White Fang members counter charged the encroaching soldiers. He didn't see the eight black armored warriors cutting a swathe through the counter attack in order to get on the rear car of the train as it began to take off down the track.

Lilith however was hanging back with the infantry company as she hunted for any sign of what the White Fang were trying to do down here. As she ran through the buildings with a fire team of soldiers behind her, she could see room after room of what she guessed was the White Fang living quarters.

As she entered a small derelict building, keeping her head low as gunfire racked the wall above her before three of the soldiers with her returned fire. She entered the open doorway and inside she could see stacks of crates that nearly reached the ceiling.

She spotted a clipboard on a crate and ran up to it hoping it was a manifest. Picking it up, she began to look through it and her heart started to beat harder.

"What is it?" Hansen's voice called out from behind her and she turned to look at the captain who had his helmet on.

"This manifest lists enough explosives to level an entire city block, along with enough Dust and weapons to equip a battalion to fight." Lilith said.

"You mean the few hundred White Fang members we're fighting?" On cue there was a series of muted thumps could be heard that shook dust from the ceiling.

"Then what the explosives for?" Lilith asked and Hansen shrugged.

"Well they're terrorist organization aren't they? Plus we're in Mountain Glenn; I was a kid when they announced the expansion but if I remember my history correctly doesn't the rail line lead back to Vale?" Lilith could feel the blood drain from her face.

"And that train left just as we got here." She said and looked back down at the manifest then at the crates.

"Captain, start pulling the company out and someone get on the vox with the Valkyries for an emergency pickup."

"Ma'am?" Hansen asked.

"The train is heading to Vale."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Neo weaved between two of the armored warriors as they tried to hit her at the same time, one coming from up high while the other swung up from a low angle. She could feel the odd sensation that the weapons emitted as she narrowly avoided them.

As she passed by them she could see a third one swinging horizontally at her so she leapt over both the weapon and warrior. However as she landed behind and turned to look at the same warrior they had already jabbing the bottom part of their weapon at her.

While her Aura saved her, she was still surprised at the rather painful blow as it slammed into her chest sending her a few feet back. In hindsight she was kind of glad that she didn't try stopping all five of them even though the other two might end up killing Roman which would mean she was out of the job or worse a loose end.

The three armored warriors lined up holding their own weapons and Neo readied her umbrella, the Estoc jutted out from the top of it. The middle warrior moved forward at lightning fast speeds thrusting forward with the poleaxe as the other two moved from the sides.

Neo however had tricked them by leaving an illusion that shattered on impact of their weapons. At the same moment she came down on them with an aimed a blow at the back of the middle warrior.

She cursed mentally as her Estoc glanced harmlessly off the armored back and slid under the warrior kicking at the back of the knee. This had a little more effect as the warrior came down to one knee but Neo had already gotten to her feet as she kicked backwards hitting the kneeling warrior in the face.

The other two moved to strike at her, she ducked and weaved away from the blows of the poleaxes. One would think that such bulky looking armor and long weapons would prove disastrous in the confines of a train.

Yet these two worked in tandem like dancers, where one pulled the other pushed while advancing on her. The third one however wasn't trying to join in, no; instead Neo could see that this one was watching how she fought.

She had to figure out how to kill them but she could tell that even if she tried all day. The only thing her Estoc would achieve would be to dull itself against their armor plates and kicks wouldn't be efficient in trying to beat them as well.

As she continued to dodge their blows unable to find an opening to counterattack she wondered how the White Fang Lieutenant was dealing with the two that had slipped past her.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Kemmler stood over the bisected body of the White Fang member and inspected his breastplate. The chainsaw left a noticeable scratch that ran across the black metal plate.

"Well that was easy." He said then pushed forward, there was a series of dull explosions further up. So Kemmler passed through another six train cars filled with supplies till he found Legionary Thyrsos, one of the more experienced legionaries in the contubernium.

The legionary had Roman on the ground with his poleyns pinning Roman's arms to the ground while using his left hand to press his face into the floor with an arming sword in hand poised at his throat. Kemmler ran over with his poleaxe and held it pointing down at Roman as well.

"Kemmler, I got him. Go and see if you can stop this train or we'll be completely cut off." The older legionary said referring to how they saw the rear car break off then exploded leaving a hole to the surface.

Which apparently allowed the Creatures of Grimm to come through, though how or why they were near the exact spot of the explosion baffled Kemmler.

"Kemmler! Damn it, will you go already?!" Thyrsos yelled and Kemmler moved past him towards the front of the train. As Kemmler reached for the door handle he found that it was locked so he stepped back far enough to give himself a running start at the door.

He collided with the metal door with a heavy crack that saw him falling with the door onto the floor. Looking up however he wasn't surprised to see the dead body of a White Fang member in front of the ruined controls of the train.

Standing up he looked around for anything that might indicate an emergency brake but he couldn't find anything. Then there was the sound of multiple sabatons clinking behind him so he turned to see the other seven legionaries.

Two of them were being helped along by another legionary; their armor was cracked and dented in multiple areas.

"You need to see this." Kemmler said stepping aside so they could see the ruined controls as well and one of them echoed the sentiment of the rest.

"Fuck."

* * *

 **Dawn that same Day…**

The early rising inhabitants of Vale busied themselves either by getting to their business to begin opening up or doing some light exercise before the day started.

When the ground started to shake however, most of them figured it to be a relatively minor earthquake at first. However when the ground exploded in fire and rock with multiple shattered train cars falling around them, they figured some accident must have happened thus many of them ran to see if they could find survivors.

Alas what they found was a gaping hole, from which the Creatures of Grimm came crawling out of. Thus the first Grimm to be seen within the Valean Capital emerged to hunt for their longest prey.

In the crumpled wreck of one of the train cars that came crashing through the ground, stirred the armored forms of the legionaries.

"Fuck, are we dead?" Jentzsch asked, Kemmler blinked a few times as his helmet's built in display flickered a few times but it didn't disappear.

Messages began to run across vision stating heavy damage was sustained to multiple parts of his armor. He would have guessed anyways as it felt as if he had gone through the Trial of Steel all over again.

"I think that I need some help." Alwina said and Kemmler looked up to see the legionary being held aloft by a jagged piece of metal that had pierced her abdomen

"Anyone else seriously hurt?" Thyrsos called out and Kemmler looked up to see the legionary standing at hole above them.

"We're good." Jentzsch called out.

"Good, someone get Alwina down. The rest of you get up here, we've got work to do." The legionary said and the rest of them scrambled. Kemmler was the third one to crawl out of the ruined train car he looked up to see that they were on the surface once more.

Though he immediately realized that they must be back in Vale as in the distant horizon he could see the airships of the Atlas Naval Group.

More importantly he could see that across what he to be a public square was the large hole that they must have come out of as the Creatures of Grimm were pouring out of it. Dozens of Beowolves, Ursai, the subterranean Creepers, and even a King Taijitu came crawling out of the hole.

He could already see dozens of eviscerated and mauled bodies of civilians on the ground. In the distance there were screaming and roars of monster mixed with the occasional pop of gunfire.

"On me Legionaries!" Thyrsos called out jumping off the train car and rushing towards a raised platform in the middle of the square. Kemmler and the other four legionaries moved after him as they took their spot in the raised platform.

The nearby Grimm turned from their butchery as they sensed this new foe. Kemmler readied his poleaxe as a Beowolf leapt towards him, stepping forward then to the right he brought down his weapon. The energy sheathed blade biting effortlessly through the neck of the Beowolf as he took its head clean off.

Around him the other legionaries moved to engage the Grimm. Turning around he raised his poleaxe with both hands blocking a downward swipe from another Beowolf then quickly spun his weapon clockwise twisting it at the same time as he stepped out of its reach while hitting the Grimm's knee with the hammer head.

The explosive force shattered the knee toppling it to one side as nothing was supporting it. As he raised poleaxe, two more jumped at him.

Ducking under the first he jabbed his head spike up piercing the second Beowolf's jaw and impaling the skull. As the dead Grimm hit the ground, the Beowolf he had ducked up under barreled into him from behind.

Kemmler stumbled a few steps forward before using the momentum to roll across the ground and come up. However he had also lost his grip on his poleaxe which was still embedded in the skull of the other Beowolf.

As the Grimm came at him, he ducked the first blow then brought his arms together to block the second following up strike. He could feel the creature's claws on his vambraces but he had managed to stop the blow with a grunt he pushed with his left hand to clear room to strike with his right fist aimed at its sternum.

There was a loud crack and he could feel what he assumed were bones cracking under the impact of his strike. As the Beowolf slumped forward Kemmler back stepped and brought his left fist up to break the jaw its jaw.

Turning around he dashed back to his poleaxe then pulled it out as an Ursa Minor came towards him. Readying his poleaxe he waited as the Ursa swung its large paw at him, in return he swung the hammer side to meet it.

When the two met, the hammer ripped a sizable hole in the Ursa's paw. Within a heartbeat Kemmler had already twisted his weapon around bringing the bladed side down on the skull of the Ursa.

Around him the other legionaries faired just as well as he had if not better. The dead forms of Beowolves, Ursai, and Creeps littered the group. However the larger Grimm pushed in, Thyrsos could see two Death Stalkers crawling out of the hole along with three dozen more Beowolves.

He knew that they wouldn't last long like this, they couldn't kill all of them nor could they stop the rest from leaving to spread into the city. If the Creatures of Grimm gain a sizable foothold, the resulting chaos and violence would probably draw every Grimm within a hundred miles.

The sound of hissing drew his attention back to the King Taijitu; he knew that he couldn't take it on. Yet he stood his ground nonetheless as both the white and black sides reared up to face him.

As the Grimm reared its heads back to strike at him, something came streaking from the corner of his vision. The white King Taijitu's head exploded as a rocket hit its face; another rocket hit the second head a moment later.

Thyrsos looked in the direction of the rockets and could see the Valkyries disgorging soldiers on the rooftops and streets under the guidance of Captain Hansen. Gunfire thundered as dozens of soldiers opened up on the backs of the Grimm with more soldiers arriving to add their own gunfire.

Much to the credit of the Grimm however they didn't break from the onslaught of firepower. Instead they merely charged at them and in a close quarter urban fight such as this with so few soldiers, they were a force to be reckoned with.

Thyrsos and the other legionaries pulled back to the Arcadian soldiers as Hansen directed his platoon leaders to spread out and keep the Grimm pinned in as much as they could.

The Grimm that had already escaped into the city however were turning back to attack them from behind as well. However Hansen had already ordered his platoons to set out a perimeter guard for rear attacks.

At that point though, more people showed up at the scene. High in the sky above them one of the Atlas Airships began to launch smaller aircraft that descended on the area.

The Arcadian Valkyries pulled away from the airspace as the smaller aircrafts began to open fire on the Grimm much to the relief of Captain Hansen who was on the ground with his company.

In less than ten minutes, a second year Huntsmen team along with a couple of Professors from Beacon arrived on the scene. Hansen watched as the Creatures of Grimm were pinned down then slaughtered as one blonde woman started repairing the hole that the train made.

"All Platoons rally on me, we need to get out of here." Hansen said over his helmet's radio, he looked towards the Praetorians that had joined his line though he could see two of them carrying one that looked hurt.

"Praetorians, follow me." He said but as he turned towards the building that they had come out of he stopped short. In front of them were dozens of the newest Atlesian Knights with their weapons aimed at them.

As he turned around more of the Atlesian robots surrounded them as three of the Atlesian aircrafts settled into the public square. There were another two that keep their positions in the air, no doubt with their weapons trained on his men.

Off to the side Thyrsos couldn't help but notice that the four person team of Beacon students was dragging Roman out of the rubble. Only to hand him over to a pair of Atlesian Knights who escorted him to an airship.

However, a man with another ten Atlesian Knights at his back approached them. In his hand was a large revolver, the look of anger was evident on his face.

"You are all under arrest." General Ironwood called out.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Jaune and the others were sitting in the main room of their suite when Gideon entered. The nine of them looked up to see the rather distracted look on the Envoy's face.

"Mr. Nauo?" Ruby asked when he went over to a small cabinet and pulled out a liquor bottle before filling a small glass then downed it in one gulp.

"Is something a matter?"

"I've got some news for you all." Gideon said after a few moments.

"There was an incident; a train was used to breach downtown Vale. The train was using the old rail lines from Mountain Glenn so no one knew it was coming and it let Grimm into the city." This brought a reaction out of everyone but Gideon shouted them down.

"That's enough!" He yelled.

"There's more, it seems a company of Arcadian soldiers were found on the scene fighting the Grimm. General Ironwood on behalf of the Vale Council has placed them under arrest for the crime of espionage and clandestine military operations within the Kingdom of Vale." This made Jaune stand up as he knew that it had to be his Aunt.

"In addition to that, I've been asked to return to Vale with you all." Gideon said as he looked at Jaune.

"What about the Grimm attack on its way here?" Ruby asked and Gideon shrugged.

"That's not our fight besides which unlike them we won't be doing what would tantamount as an illegal action within their own territory." He said looking back at Jaune.

"Right Mr. Arc?" Everyone looked at Jaune now who just looked down as he sighed.

"You're right; we can't go and fight the Grimm." A smile touched his face when he did look up however.

"But I can."

"What?" Gideon asked.

"I said I can help them. So if you have to go back to Beacon then by all means go, I'll come back later and explain myself to Headmaster Ozpin as to why I didn't come back."

"I can't let you do that." Gibeon said and Jaune frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You're a Beacon student and this mission is under my authority."

"I have a responsibility Mr. Nauo and you can't keep me from doing that."

"I can and I will." He said adamantly and the two of them stared at each other for a long time. Gibeon finally sighed as he poured another glass full of liquor.

"Fine have it your way and I suppose you won't try to stop him from this would you Ms. Aster." Fusia shrugged.

"Look I really don't think there's much to say about this, he's got a reason to do this and one that I think is completely justifiable so drop the subject Gideon."

"Actually can we go back to the train thing, what's that all about?" Yang asked and Gibeon nodded.

"Well as far as I know Roman and the White Fang used a train to breach Vale and the Arcadians who were believed to be involved in a number of incidents prior to this were caught on the scene."

"So what's going to happen to them?" Weiss asked.

"I suppose they'll have a trial for the crimes General Ironwood has levied against them."

"So the Arcadians are seen fighting the Grimm and Ironwood decides to arrest them?" Nora asked.

"I suppose, but what else can you do when a foreign army shows up unannounced and definitely uninvited to conduct military operations within another sovereign Kingdom." Gideon said.

"Yet, isn't Ironwood doing the exact same thing?" Fusia asked.

"Ironwood is different."

"Aye, he's got two council seats one as a General another as Headmaster. It makes you wonder what that kind of sway would do to any Kingdom." Fusia said.

"Yet the report states Ironwood responded far faster than Ozpin could."

"Okay but how is anyone supposed to plan for a freaking train to come breaking out of the ground." She said and Gideon shook his head.

"Ozpin's been telling the Council for years to trust him but he's made far more mistakes than anyone would like to admit. In the past two decades we've lost eight villages to the southeast and let's not forget the Mountain Glenn expansion."

"Don't. Do not talk to me about the Fall of Mountain Glenn Gibeon or I swear this is going to go down a path you won't like." Fusia snapped and Gibeon closed his mouth.

"Uh, I have a question." Ruby said softly and Fusia looked at her.

"Yes Ms. Rose?"

"What happened to Mountain Glenn? I know the Grimm attacked it but surely that couldn't be it." Fusia just smiled ruefully before taking a deep breath.

"Well you see Ruby, Mountain Glenn was the first serious expansion for Vale in the last century. After the last two wars the population of Vale and its outlying villages and towns grew far too quickly as the soldiers returned home for the agriculture to keep up. So while Vale was trying to pick up production without sacrificing the quality of the precious farming land it had. Someone had an idea of expanding the Kingdom, so surveyors were sent out to find a suitable area and they found Mountain Glenn which had a stable geography and plenty of resources and Dust to be mined. So construction began first with robotic help from Atlas which built the initial infrastructure and housing for the city until enough people could be convinced to go and it began to take off. Thousands were leaving almost every month to live in Mountain Glenn since housing was virtually free in comparison to the residential areas of Vale with guaranteed tax exemptions. With more and more people heading to live in Mountain Glenn the need for more supplies to keep up with the demand meant that a fast means of transportation was needed for workers and residents of the budding city. So the underground rail line was constructed for that purpose. However after the first few years the Grimm seemed to finally take notice of it, though many people would later attributed the main cause of the attraction of the Grimm with Merlot Industries. The attacks soon started to hit the city, Vale's Army was too small, after being gutted by the Council post war, to properly protect Mountain Glenn along with the rest of the Kingdom's border. As well as the main wall still not being completely built as Mountain Glenn terrain made it difficult to sustain the same type of defense as Vale. So the Council petitioned Ozpin, who had only been in the position of Headmaster for a relatively short time, to send Huntsmen to help protect the city. Which he did, in a few weeks he had reached almost a thousand Huntsmen and Huntresses most of whom were well experienced or veterans of the field. So all of them headed to Mountain Glenn and began to defend it. Keep in mind though; a thousand Huntsmen isn't a sizable force even if they're all well trained or experienced professionals with the support of eleven thousand police officers and soldiers. As they came in beating back several attack, the Creatures of Grimm simply ramped up the scale and frequency of their attacks. One could see how the battle was going as the combined force lost the fight for the city's borders after three straight days of fighting. Then as skirmishes within the with city began that's when the real causalities started, while the Grimm kept an overall pressure on the defenders how they would gain ground was by concentrating on a small section, when enough Grimm would break through along two points of the line they would close behind the defenders trapping them until they were killed. This carried on for almost another week before the inhabitants of the city and its few defenders went underground. By this point in the fighting, of the thousand Huntsmen and Huntresses there were reported to be only around some three hundred odd left standing with almost another two hundred too wound to continue fighting. The Police and Army took a larger hit since they were in the fight for longer, only coming out of the surface fight with two thousand people with almost twice that in wounded. As the city inhabitants and defenders caught their breath then began to building out underground having abandoned the actual city, they thought they would finally be safe. As always fate was cruel as an explosion would open up a series of caverns, these caverns would be teeming with subterranean Grimm. So before anyone really knew what happened, the Creatures of Grimm would overrun them. In Vale, the Council would react quickly by instructing the bulkheads, a containment or security measure of the rail line, be closed. So kids, forty thousand civilians along with twelve thousand police officers, soldiers and Huntsmen would be lost along with a nearly completed city in the greatest Grimm disaster of the Four Kingdoms since the wars of the early century." Fusia explained no one said anything as she finished, the atmosphere of the room was heavy.

"Now you know what this upsets the Vale Council so much, its insult and injury. The haunting past of failure comes back to injure us." Gideon said quietly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone on the Council uses this as some political ammunition in the next election. Though most likely they'll shift the blame to Ozpin again." Fusia said and Weiss tilted her head.

"Again?" Weiss asked.

"When Mountain Glenn fell people immediately began to search for a cause in the aftermath. While everyone understood the majority of the blame was on the Grimm, a few politicians, those that supported the idea of the expansion in the first place, pointed part of the blame at Ozpin saying that he purposely held back resources that could have saved the city." Fusia explained and Weiss wrinkled her nose at that.

"So what does that mean for us?" Ruby asked.

"I guess since I need to return then you will be coming with me." Gideon said and looked at Jaune.

"As for you Jaune, I guess your fate is in your own hands." For some reasons Jaune seemed to smile at that, though it wasn't a smile born from happiness but from something else which Gideon could not put a finger on.

"Mr. Nauo." Pyrrha said as she stood up and the Envoy sighed.

"Yes Ms. Nikos?"

"I would like to stay as well." She said, Jaune glanced at her and she nodded to him with a small smile.

"Look, I've already said that we can't do anything here. Jaune's the only one with a reason to be here, so why ask me that?"

"Because it's not true." Ren added as he stood up.

"Jaune's our friend and team leader besides which how can we leave when we know that we could help them fight off the Grimm?"

"If you haven't gotten the clue, they don't fight like the Four Kingdoms." Gideon tried to reason but Ruby stood up at that as well.

"Not true, they have swords and guns so to me it's no different than what we have."

"That's not what I meant, so, ugh, Ms. Aster a little help would be nice." The older Huntress smiled as she shook her head.

"Sorry Gideon, it looks like these kids have their minds made up." The Envoy sighed as he poured himself another drink.

"I guess that's settled." A voice said so everyone in the room turned to see a pair of figures at the open door standing there was Governor Kagiris and Centurion Tava.

"Governor, how long have you been standing there?" Gideon asked as Kagiris walked into the room

"Just long enough to know that I've got two teams of specialists to add to my forces in the west." The older looking man said and winked at Jaune.

"Though Mr. Nauo I have to say that I've also arranged transportation back south to Nimedos Keep since there's nothing else for us to discuss here." Kagiris said then turned towards Fusia.

"And I assume you will be assisting us as well?" He asked.

"I wouldn't dare miss an opportunity to see how you Arcadians fight." She said and Kagiris laughed.

"My dear by the end of this you'll see just how different we fight."

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Jaune and the others stood on the steps of the capital building as the escort convoy with Gideon Nauo left. Looking around however he could see that there was a change in atmosphere among them, with the prospect of battle it was clear to feel excitement but honestly there was a subtle hint of nervousness as well.

"So what now?" Yang asked.

"Now we prepare for war." Kagiris said from behind the group, turning around they could see a rather young looking man in an Army uniform standing with him.

"This is Captain Amand Madeg of the Arcadian 5th Battalion which is located to our west where the Creatures of Grimm are going to attack." The Governor said and the man gave them a crisp salute

"It's an honor to meet you all!" He called out and Jaune traded looks with his friends.

"I know what you're thinking so let me get this out of the way, you will be attached to Captain Madeg and his Company for the duration of this event. Incorporate yourselves into the Company structure so that when you go out to fight you won't be left out of the loop or support of the Army." Kagiris explained then stepped closer to them.

"Lord Arc, I know that normally your position would warrant your attachment at nearly any level within the Army. Due to your experience or lack thereof I'm letting you know now that for this time I've sent word out that your temporary rank within the Hurin Valleys is that of a Sergeant First Class while Ms. Aster is technically in overall command of your group with the temporary rank of First lieutenant." He said then looked at everyone else.

"You all will be given temporary ranks which Captain Madeg will explain to you at his leisure as I will now leave you to him. Captain." Kagiris said before nodding at the man then headed back up the steps.

"Alright then, let's get down to business. We'll form up with the rest of the Task Force at Toutatis after that we'll head to the western front. So go and get what you need to fight with from your rooms, I'll have some vehicles gather to take you there." Madeg said as he looked at each of them, though Jaune couldn't help but notice the slight wobble in his voice.

"First Lieutenant Aster?" Madeg asked and the older woman just smiled at him.

"Yes Captain?"

"I'll see to it that you'll get a couple volunteer squads to come over and held round out your platoon."

"That's not necessary Captain we've got enough people." Fusia started but he shook his head and seemed to grow a little sterner if not more confident.

"No, you're a part of my company and I don't want one of my platoons to be undermanned as you are right now." He gestured to them.

"The nine of you don't even make a full squad though I know Aura gives you such an advantage that doesn't mean you're invulnerable."

"True but each one of us can take and dish out more damage than a squad of soldiers." Fusia said and Madeg frowned.

"Then you obviously never fought in a battle, a competent commander would know that there is a chance that his foe has Aura enhanced individuals amongst his ranks. I too have a number of soldiers with Aura but that doesn't mean that they can do something imprudent just because they might survive a grenade to the face as the soldier next to them might get perforated by shrapnel." Madeg shook his head.

"Alright that's enough now, First Lieutenant, you've got ten minutes to get your platoon mustered on these steps, I suggest you make the most of it." Madeg said before turning to walk briskly back into the building.

* * *

 **Ten Minutes Later…**

The nine of them were standing on the sidewalk outside of Noden's capital building. In front of them was a pair of Tauroses but between them was a large, loud, boxy looking machine with a slightly sloped front.

"Well First Lieutenant? Let's go." Madeg called out from behind them and they turned to see that he was dressed like most of the soldiers they've seen. Except his helmet was dangling from his waist and he had a drab colored duffle bag over his shoulder.

"We're getting in that?" Yang asked and Madeg raised an eyebrow.

"Sir." He said and Yang looked confused.

"What?" Yang asked and Blake leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Oh! Right! Sorry. So we're getting in that sir?" Yang asked and Blake just shook her head silently as she stepped back.

"Yes we are it's a standard Armored Personnel Carrier called a Chimera with thirty millimeters of an aluminum alloy for armor with a heavy stubber on top." Madeg explained as they walked up to it and Ruby seemed to beam as she looked it over before trying to climb on top only to have Yang pull her down by her cape.

"Captain, where are we going first? You mentioned something earlier." Weiss asked and Madeg pointed towards the castle to the west.

"We're heading to Toutatis; it's the main Army Fortress or headquarters of the Hurin Valleys. Most of the Battalions get billeted there when they're rotated off the line along with the brunt of the Armor being located there. So that would make it the nerve center for two thirds of the Brigade's strength." Madeg explained as everyone got in the Chimera. As everyone sat down the machine, which had been rumbling loudly as it stood in the street, jerked to a start and Pyrrha felt as if she should cover her ears at the loud noise as the Chimera moved. Madeg seemed to smile out of enjoyment at the odd expressions they were no doubt making.

"Welcome to the Army."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

"Command to Serpent Actual, Serpent Actual, how copy?" A voice buzzed in the ears of Flight Lieutenant Thomas Bekker, who lowered his Avenger Strike Fighter right above the clouds. To his right were the other four Avengers of his Flight in a rough line that stretched out over a hundred meters.

"This is Serpent Actual; I'm reading you five by five, over."

"Acknowledge Serpent Actual, what's your 10-20, over."

"We're fifteen klicks out at 7,500 feet, over."

"Advisory, scouts reported an increase Nevermore activity in that area, over."

"Acknowledge, Serpent Actual out." Bekker said before everything went silent or well as slight as it could be in a fifty thousand pound flying war machine.

"Is there any word on Burscogh Flight sir?" Flight Officer Mayme Harper asked over the vox.

"If they had something to say they would have mentioned it." A second voice, Flight Officer Leon Farley, chimed in.

"Unless the only news they have is bad news in which case they'll tell us once we're on the ground again. Though I don't see why they would actually tell us anything." A third voice began to say.

"Shut up Gates." The other two said.

"Alright that's enough, tighten up on my six and keep your eyes sharp, we're dropping to 6-9-0-0 feet." Bakker said and there was a chorus of acknowledgments. The five Avengers formed up then dropped below the clouds and his heart fluttered at seeing how close the mountains actually were to their planes. Had they been too far right or left they might have hit the top of the mountains.

Though it only lasted for a moment as he was used to coming down through the clouds amongst the much more restricted portions of the Hurin Valleys. He still would hear rookie pilots questioning why they would build an airfield in a narrow valley.

Yet to him, it seem like it made sense as the narrow valley that the Felvennis Airbase was located in made the actual visualization of where a pilot needed to go so much easier plus it was far wider than they actually made it out to be.

"Shit, to my 10, there's something burning down there." Gates said over the vox and Bakker looked out his canopy to see something on the mountainside.

"What is that?" Harper asked.

"It can't be the Grimm, they shouldn't be here." The last member of the Flight, Eugene Atkinson added.

"Should we continue on?" Gates asked and Bakker sighed inside his helmet.

"Gates, Farley, do a fly by and see if you can get an idea what's going on." The two of them sent acknowledgments before peeling off. Bekker, Atkinson and Harper slowed down before beginning a slow circle over their current position near one of the Turin River's tributaries.

"It's not Grimm." Gates was the first to say as the two passed over.

"Not Grimm?" Bekker asked.

"No I saw people scattering down there." Gates replied.

"Are you sure?"

"I can confirm Flight Lieutenant, it was people down there." Farley replied.

"Do another pass; see if you can get a better look."

As the two Avengers circled around for a second pass, that's when the Grimm attack. From above, a dozen Nevermores the smallest of which were the same size as the Avenger Strike Fighters while the larger ones were nearly twice that came down on the two air planes.

"Break! Break!" Gates called and Bekker could hear the two men breathing hard as they executed sharp turns to either side. However the Avenger Strike Fighters were never meant for dog fighting, so Bekker winced as he saw a Nevermore get a passing strike on Gate's Avenger. Almost immediately black smoke began to spew out from his plane.

"Gates get out of there!" Bekker yelled as he turned towards the fleeing war planes.

"Mayday! Mayday! I've got a dead stick and descending rapidly." Gates said and Bekker cursed however most of the Nevermores turned to face them.

Bekker lined himself up with one of the larger ones and fired his nose mounted autocannon. As it roared he could not only hear it but feel the slight vibrations in the Avenger as a stream of heavy caliber shells hit the Nevermore dead center.

The Nevermore screeched loudly in pain as torn apart, however some of the others began to either fly towards him while a few instead flung feathers at Harper and Atkinson.

Bekker always found it slightly absurd that a bird, even a monstrous one, would try killing its opponent with feathers. Yet he also knew that those feathers were strong enough to puncture their hull easily.

As the Nevermore in front of him fell to the ground, Bekker tilted and turned to the left avoid a return flurry of feathers. He could see a few of them passing close over his canopy but nothing hit him.

However his turn put him in front of another two closing in fast on him, breathing hard he pushed the throttle to the max as he pulled hard on his control stick and the Avenger rose sharply up.

He was pressured down hard by the force of the sharp upturn that his vision began to constrict to the point that he feared he might pass out.

So he turned his plane to the right then began leveling out. The pressure slackened as he eased off his throttle and he focused on breathing for a second aware that the Nevermores wouldn't be far behind him.

Tilting to the right again he began a long turn to see how everything was going; Harper was calling for help from Atkinson while Farley was locked in a turning fight with two Nevermores. Gates however had ejected out of his Avenger as Bekker could see a parachute descending on the trees.

Below him the two Nevermores were slowly coming up to him, he needed to deal with them fast or they'll get a hit on him before he knew it. Leveling his Avenger he took another deep breath as he picked up speed then began to pull up and around then spinning right side up as he pointed nose down at the two Grimm.

Now he was closing on them fast so he fired a five second long burst of his autocannon, then adjusted his nose only to five another three second burst. As the two Nevermore moved aside to avoid the first burst, the second burst caught the Nevermore to the left on its right wing sending it crashing to the ground.

Bekker however was too close to swing his nose to aim for the other Nevermore so he zoomed under it before ascending away from the Grimm. As he turned the Avenger around, something odd happened, blue lightning cracked across his vision.

What was strange about it was the fact he was fairly certain that it had come from the ground. He shook his head; he didn't have time to worry about that as he fired another burst at the Nevermore. The large Grimm bird however had dove to the ground avoiding the burst.

However another burst caught the Nevermore and Bekker looked up to see Harper's Avenger zoom overhead.

"Sir, we've got ground, lightning?" Atkinson said over the vox channel.

"Climb." Bekker ordered before switching to his long range vox instrument.

"Command, this is Serpent Actual, how copy?" Bekker asked.

"Serpent Actual, this is Command, sitrep?"

"Nevermores just ambushed us and I've got one Avenger down plus it seems someone is throwing lightning at us." Bekker said and waited for a few moments.

"Repeat that Serpent Actual did you say lightning storm?"

"Negative Command, we've got a hostile mage on the ground and I've got a plane down with the pilot potentially still alive."

"Roger that Serpent Actual, we'll dispatch a C.S.A.R. please relay grid coordinates." The voice asked and Bekker checked his avionics before relaying his position.

At the moment another flashing of lightning appeared in his vision followed by a second then a third. Bekker rolled away but had to pull up sharply as he was too close to the mountains. Another bolt of lightning passed right over his canopy and the Avenger shook violently.

"That's it, I'm gonna make a pass." Harper said over the vox but Bekker couldn't see her Avenger as he rolled to the right passing over the mountain tops.

However he could see more flashes of blue lightning coming up from the forest where the village had once been located. He gritted his teeth as he pulled his own Avenger up to get into position for an attack run.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

He cursed loudly as he raised his hand towards the sky, power danced around on his forearm before shooting out of his palm. The metal birds of their Enemy or Arcadians if he had heard the Pale Witch right, roared overheard avoiding his lightning,

When the Pale Witch reunited him with his force he had been relieved but when she sent him to combine with a few other groups he had been shocked at what she had done. Now he was the leader of nearly four thousand marauders with a thousand harden warriors all of whom were survivors of the battle in the snow.

Sure he had spent the better part of a day killing the war leaders of the other groups then using the portals to travel to some valley at the foot of a large mountain chain only to have to hike it then fight these Arcadians as she calls them.

Now though he supposed that since he had the support of this Pale Witch all he had to do was help her smash her enemies which of course mean he may very well gain power. With such power he hoped to use to extract his revenge upon her.

Two of the metal crafts came down towards the mountain side, all around him his marauders were scrambling to find cover but the technology that they faced was far superior to what he had. Yet in his opinion when it comes down to it, magic always beats technology in the long run.

Raising both hands he shot one bolt of lightning followed by the second, the first wasn't really meant to hit. Instead the bolt passed between the two metal constructs making them spin reflexively aside just as the second one flew at where he believed the lead one would spin into it.

The bolt of Lightning sheared through the protruding left side of the craft separating it from the main body and it twisted violently as it crashed towards the ground. The second construct however opened fired, and a long stream of bright bolts struck the forest to his right.

Trees and men were ripped apart in a thunderous wave as the bolts passed him. However he was intact and that meant he could still fight. However he anticipated the craft's movement after watching the slaughter on the frozen battlefield.

So he thrust outwards with both of his hands, a singular but much larger bolt of lightning shot out of his hands racing up to meet the metal construct. Alas this one rolled to the right and immediately circled back towards the forest.

Cursing silently he began to move as well, he needed a few moments to gather the necessary power. More of the deadly projectiles ripped apart the forest around him killing or seriously wounding another three dozen marauders that had been hiding.

He smiled however as his hands shot up again sending another bolt of lightning at the metal craft. While it wasn't a direct hit, the proximity of the lightning seemed to have some effect on it.

Though while the sorcerer didn't know that the aircraft was protected from lightning strikes it didn't really matter as the bolt of lightning he flung at it was no normal lightning.

As such the tendrils of power or electricity left many glowing cuts in the hull of the warplane. These cuts while not enough to outright destroy the war plane were enough to cripple it.

Not wanting to let his prey escape the sorcerer flung another bolt of lightning; this one stuck the rear of the aircraft which exploded in a shower of blue sparks and smoke. The sorcerer smiled inside his great helm as the last two metal constructs disappeared into the sky.

"My lord." A voice said nearby and he turned to see one of the marauders kneeling.

"What is it Kudatch."

"We've found the man that came down in that large cloth, he's tried running east by my hunter packs caught him soon enough. What do you want us to do with him?"

"Bring him to me."

* * *

 **Later that Night…**

Ozpin stood looking out from atop his tower at Beacon, the night seemed unnaturally quiet. In the skies above Vale he could see three of Ironwood's Frigates cruising through the skies like whales in the ocean.

"I see you've changed." A cool voice said and Ozpin sighed as he turned around.

In front of him was a short man with pale skin, black hair and a goatee. He wore black trousers with a white button up shirt and carried an ivory cane with an obsidian dragon head in one hand.

"And you haven't." Ozpin said evenly as he walked back to his desk in which he poured himself a cup of coffee then gestured down to the pot.

"Want some?"

"What's the brew?"

"Mistral Gold."

"That sounds lovely." Ozpin poured a second cup as the man sat down which he placed in front of him.

"Now old friend, what can I help you with?" Ozpin asked but the man seemed far too engrossed by taking a sip but he frowned.

"Hmm, if you ask me this normally tastes better hot." The man said and Ozpin watched in a fairly amused manner as smoke began to curl up from the cup.

"I would ask you to refrain from doing that, these cups aren't meant to be heated from that sort of method."

"My apologies, I guess I'm not used to this sort of thing anymore." He said before quickly sipping on his cup which Ozpin did as well from his own. The two men sat silently there for a while until Ozpin set down his cup with a gentle click then clasped his hands under his chin.

"So what brings you here old friend?"

"Ah well, I heard you had some trouble with some uninvited guests."

"Well you don't have to worry about that, the Council has placed General Ironwood in charge of security for the Vytal Festival."

"Oh my, Ozpin is that a note of disapproval I hear in your voice?"

"If you're insinuating that I'm slightly displeased in the course of action my colleague has taken which coincidentally has slightly undermined my desire of a low profile then you might be correct."

"I see, I see, so then Oz, care to explain what you reckon the General might be planning to do with your other guests."

"Ah, you mean the Arcadians? Well I suppose there's nothing to do but follow the law, what happened to them is out of my hands."

"Do you realize what this is going to mean for you right?"

"I'm aware of it but I'm sure you would like to point it out for me."

"Now Ozpin, I merely am trying to make sure you're informed about what will probably happen. With the arrest of the soldiers and his son being discovered, it's only going to force his hand by making him come here to either defend or bargain for his soldiers." The man leaned forward and Ozpin had to admit a part of him was a little uncomfortable with his gaze.

"I've met the man Ozpin; he fights a powerful Enemy so you don't have to. If he gets mixed up in your own war then that can have dire consequences."

"He's already involved, in fact he's always been involved, trust me, I've met him before and I know that he fights, them, however he's also a valuable piece to have against her which she knows so drawing him in would only serve against her desires."

"I guess you're right there but here's the biggest question, does he trust you?" The man asked and Ozpin sighed as he poured the man another cup before refilling his own.

"He doesn't."

"I thought so, while you may be fighting the same enemy, you're definitely not on the same side. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd have a better shot at becoming allies with him and trust me when I say that he would rather put a sword in both of my hearts before that happens."

"Maybe but he's man that's willing to change when the time comes."

"Ozpin you and I both know that he's no mere man, at least not anymore. If anything he's almost like a force of nature and that's saying something since I know he has people that can use true magic within his inner circle." He said and Ozpin nodded.

"I'm aware of that; I've faced off with one of them before."

"Ah yes, the Old Wolf, I remember you telling me about that."

"Indeed, that's when I realized that I needed to get him on my side."

"Good luck with that, I remember when I first met him. He was so odd, that I honestly mistook him for one of my kind in disguise as I could feel something, inhuman about him." The man gave a lopsided grin.

"Something I feel even he doesn't know or if he does then he knows far more than what I would expect or even imagine."

"I hear what you're saying but I believe having him here, even if reluctantly, will be a good thing in the long run."

"If you say so." The man looked over Ozpin's shoulder then put down his cup.

"Well, I guess I should get going." He said as he stood up and Ozpin stood up as well before putting his hand out which the man took. Ozpin couldn't help but take note of the heat that seemed to emit from him, he was glad that his guest didn't end up melting anything.

"Where do you plan on going now?" Ozpin asked as he walked with the man towards the window and the man opened it. Ozpin glanced out and could see straight down to the ground where some of the lights around the base of the tower were still on.

There were pairs of Atlas soldiers seemed to be walking around the perimeter of the tower; Ironwood had doubled the guard since someone broke into the tower a few nights back during the school dance.

"You know how it is; I just go where the wind takes me." He said and Ozpin smiled as they shook hands once more before the man jumped out the window.

One might have expected to see the man falling to what would be his doom, however as Ozpin looked out the window against there was no sign of the man.

As time passed Ozpin once more just stared into the night sky, in the distance he could see the lights of Vale along with same three Frigates. The sight tired him as he took a deep breath and sighed however he noticed something off about the air.

It felt different somehow, as if there was an almost unnatural stiffness that seemed to speak of a time long lost to him. He looked up into the sky seeing the familiar shattered moon and thinking back to a time when like him, it was whole.

Yet as a shadow passed over his mind at thinking about those days a different shadow passed in front of the broken moon. One though while unnatural was all too familiar to him.

As this shadow was one of many that have given birth to legends and stories.

* * *

 **Happy Thanksgiving (But that was yesterday) Black Friday or even Christmas depending on how you view holidays.**

 **With the end of this chapter I'm now on the cusp of tackling the task of combining the fluid yet almost gaudy** **fighting of the RWBY characters (minus Jaune) with the more grimm (I see what you did there) dark action of the Arcadians between the Norsii or Norsca Marauders, Warriors and Sorcerers.**

 **Brownie points to anyone that can figure out who or really what Ozpin talked with and saw.**

 **One thing I gotta say is that with the new volume out there's been a lot more fluff being put out but since I'm the kind of person that waits to binge watch this is gonna be problem for me but I guess I can figure something out.**

 **On a side note, The Dance With Death still on hiatus.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you thought about this chapter was there something you liked or didn't like. Do you have a suggestion? Concerns? Or just wanna discuss something whether or not it's related to the story or not? Then by all means go ahead and leave a review for me to answer or send me a PM and I'll try getting back to you as soon as I can.**

 **Till Next Time!**


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Arcadian High Command on the outside appeared as any other large three story building. Made from stone, concrete, marble and glass it was a clean if not mundane looking building.

Yet anyone could see that it was important as even within the High Citadel there was a twelve foot high wall with razor sharp barb wire and sentry towers that allowed a clear view over the wall. Not to mention the main gate and sentry towers were manned by fully armed and armored Variegatum.

The Arcadian Variegatum or Military Police are the internal judiciary units of the Military. These individuals are given the task of enforcing Military Law and Justice within each branch.

The Variegatum however cannot extend their judicial authority over the civilian population unless Martial Law was previously imposed. Nor are they able to stop a member of the Sisterhood and Praetorian Legion.

Inside the building however the three floors are filled with offices, meeting and examination rooms. Many of which function as places that handle a soldier's finances, deployment orders, medical evaluations, reassignments or transfers from or to a new unit or branch within the military.

Along with a small medical wing dedicated to help soldiers, active or retired, with mental or physical issues with enough room to simultaneous see up to a thousand separate people. Altogether there are enough people that work or staff the three floors that hypothetically if they all became frontline soldiers there would be more than two regiments.

However that was all just for the section of the building open to the public and unauthorized personnel. The Arcadian High Command had a few more layers to it but these ones were built into the mountain for a more secured environment.

The first sublevel was merely a security level; two companies of Variegatum occupy this level. Everyone excluding the High Lord and a select few such as the High Council must submit to security examinations. The process would take nearly twenty minute for each person and longer if a discrepancy occurs in their records or mannerisms.

On the second floor however are living quarters for the staff. Due to security concerns and the nature of their clearances, it was decided that those that work in the lower levels must live on site for the majority of their time there as due to the select and important nature of their work.

Those that chose or are selected to work there are there for life.

Once past the living quarters, the third sub layer is dedicated to military logistics within Arcadia. The people there work endlessly tracking, monitoring, shifting, ordering, recruiting and deploying assets whether it's flesh or metal within the borders of the Kingdom.

Below that is a slightly smaller layer that focuses on external military matters of the Kingdom, such as the maintaining contact with the Brigades, Surveyor Expeditions, Fleet Deployments, and any other Military Operation taking place outside the Kingdom.

The final level combs through the combined reports of the other two levels and processes the information put together then evaluates priorities and options while also discussing overall strategy for the various Armed Forces of the Kingdom.

Here Alexander stood with Lord Commander Thade, High Admiral Heth and General Tala with their respective attendants as they looked over a digital map of the known world with everything they knew marked out on it.

Various icons were displayed representing the Outlands with the numerous towns and villages regardless if they're still intact or overrun by Grimm taken from the census that had been put together the year before. There were also different colors that showed which ones were essentially allies of the Four Kingdoms. Along with a few that were allied to Arcadia.

The largest of which was the Hurin Valleys, Alexander could still remember the days of the Great War in which his people fought against the Four Kingdoms. He wished he had been there to lead his people but at the time there had been other matters that he needed to address as such he had dispatched Talbek to lead his forces on Sanus.

Though he was a little surprised that after a year and a half of fighting he had somehow managed to get them a pact with the Vale-Vacuo Alliance.

"I think we need to consider redeploying the Brigades, take the 2nd and 3rd Brigade out from the South Islands. They're the furthest from our reach and if anything hits them then we won't be able to support them." Thade said as he picked up a pen and used it to zoom down on a small cluster of islands to the far south.

"But we need to those islands, before we got a foothold on them it had been a haven to the Arch Enemy. Plus it's proven to be an excellent ground for testing new weapons." Kelsar pointed out, her feminine voice at odd with Thade.

"True, it's provided an ideal isolated area for weapon testing that I've set Rosenstock to do but I have to remind you General that the reason why it became such a thorn in our side was far before your time. It was when we still didn't have Irkalla under our control and a Lord of Change had managed to escape my hunt, hence why Irkalla became such an important part for our defense. However even with two Brigades on the ground we only control a small portion of the island. The rest belong to the Grimm and if the reports are coming in even a fraction true then time is against us here." Alexander said evenly and there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Then maybe we should just stop them for now, if you ask me to put together something to help them then I wouldn't send anything less than a squadron but I cannot send anything more than that at risk of our own oceanic borders. As even now I've got several patrols that have sensor pings and a number of Captains that have put forth reports describing Atlas vessels within two hundred kilometers of the coast." Heth said pulling the map's focus all the way back up to look to the eastern sea of Arcadia.

"But even if I did send ships there are a lot of things that can happen on the open sea. As a few Sea Feilongs can prove dangerous if they're old enough to tackle the warships properly though we can still dispatched them with some caution but if something like a Kraken or even one of the ancient deep sea Leviathans attacks then we could easily see a third if not half of those ships sinking." Heth finally said.

"If sending more ships is dangerous then how can we move the two Brigades?" Thade asked.

"It's not like they don't have their own ships to use to besides I'd figured we'd just send them north to mainland Sanus." Heth said as he shifted the map down south before tapping an icon on the southern coast of Sanus near the islands.

"The harbor at Terrelan is large enough to accommodate the naval ships and Castellan Rallis can deploy some of his ships to aid in the transfer. He's got a Flotilla at his disposal combine that with the Squadron already assigned to the two Brigades it might be enough to protect the transport ships which he also has enough of to speed the process up considerably."

"Alright that sounds like a plan, now let's talk about what to do with the 9th Brigade. I've been in contact with Brigadier General Karsidottir; she says some of her battalions fought a number of skirmishes with Norsii Marauders. If what she's saying is true that means the Host is scattering or had already sent out probing forces that somehow slipped past us and made it all the way to Sanus without any of us knowing." Alexander said as he finally stepped forward to pull the map up towards the Vacuoan Desert.

"Since she's already fought with them has she been able to pin them down?" Kelsar asked but Thade shook his head.

"She lost track of them for a few days back in the western hills before finding this town razed, the signs left behind indicate that they assaulted the place and suddenly disappeared leaving no trace of where they have gone." Thade said highlighting a small icon of a town.

"What do you mean?" Heth asked.

"He means that the Norsii disappeared, a force of six to eleven hundred strong brutal fighters has gone missing on our watch. I've already dispatched Talbek and a Centuria to track them down but even with his skills it will take a while before he tracks them down and destroys them. Until then, Thade keep working with Litvinovich getting Irkalla secured, I don't want my north so exposed as it is right now."

"Actually, Rosenstock passed me a report yesterday saying that he can speed up the trench repairs for the Northern Line by drafting one out of every three companies to assist in the repair work." Thade interjected and Alexander tilted his head a little in thought.

"Okay but what happens in the short run?" Alexander asked.

"Well if there's another concentrated push on the Northern Line then we'll be caught with our pants down and could easily see the 3rd Field Army routed which would ultimately lose us Irkalla."

"I'm gonna say put a lid on that for now, it's not a bad idea but I would prefer you to do that when there's enough breathing room. Right now I'd reckon Irkalla is only just getting a breath in."

"Yes sir." Thade said as Alexander looked to his other commanders.

"Kelsar, Heth see what you can do about bringing the 2nd and 3rd Brigade back onto mainland Sanus as fast as you can. Tell them to secure the data for the experiments, I'll have an Umbra Contubernium go out and collect the data personally. Other than that destroy everything else, if or when we return to the Islands I don't want to risk the chance of another force occupying two viable fortresses." Alexander looked to the side when he saw one of his aides, a mouse Faunus, gesturing a data slate so he beckoned her over and she handed it to him.

"Ah right, I almost forgot. Heth, I do in fact need you to assemble a Task Group to head to Sanus as well."

"What for?" The High Admiral asked.

"I need to go to Vale."

"Oh right, that." Heth said.

"Wait what?" Kelsar asked.

"General Ironwood arrested Director Lilith along with six platoons of soldiers and an Umbra contubernium." Heth explained and Alexander rolled his eyes as Kelsar whistled.

"So are you going to give them an ultimatum?" Kelsar asked and Alexander frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Are we going to go in guns blazing if they don't release them?" She asked and Alexander shook his head.

"Kelsar now isn't the time to fight the Four Kingdoms. I'm going to go over there and defend them against the charges."

"So why is Heth preparing you a Task Group?"

"Well for one I don't actually know what Ironwood might do so it's better to be prepared. As such I've already got a Centuria of the Legion ready to move. I also wouldn't mind bringing a few regiments as they might prove to be valuable to the Brigade near Vale."

"You're talking about the Hurin Valleys right?" Thade asked and Alexander nodded.

"The reports are already coming in that they've been using their Air Wing to funnel the Grimm but even then it seems that there's a lot more Grimm than usual. In fact it seems that every Grimm around Vale is getting agitated, I don't know what it means other than that it bodes ill for not only them but my son as well."

"When will you be departing?" Kelsar asked.

"In three days." This brought a smile to Alexander's face as the three of them seemed to pale a little.

"Alright my lord, I'll see to it about getting a few regiments organized to go with you." Thade said.

"And I'll see to it that the Task Group gets organized, will you require Aeterna Virtus for this?"

"Of course, this is going to the first official appearance of Arcadia within one of the Four Kingdoms. I plan on making a show of it."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Pyrrha followed the others out of the Chimera; they had been on the road for the better part of the day. Her senses were assailed the moment she stepped out of the troop compartment of the armored personnel carrier.

The air was a little cool with the cold mountain air mixing with the exhaust of a few hundred armored vehicles. The sound of it mixed with the hundreds of soldiers exiting or attending the vehicles that the noise of it all was like a dull roar that made her almost think she was inside someplace cramped and crowded for it to be that noisy.

"Company form up!" A voice shouted and Pyrrha watched as the others lined up around her so she fell into line next to Jaune.

"Excited?" He asked and she just gave him a lopsided grin which he returned. At that point, Fusia, Nora, Ren, team RWBY and the other soldiers that had come with them from Toutatis were arrayed by platoons.

However Pyrrha began to look around, she could see that they were in a courtyard with large stone walls to the east with a pair of heavy looking wood gates. To the north and south the stone walls connected to large stone bastions and on the other side she could see several of the Arcadian VTOLs landing or rising out of view.

To the west up the mountain she could see the stone fortifications continuing up in a series of interconnected Keeps with bridges or maybe walls that led towards the top of the mountain where she stared in awe at the distant stone fortress that seemed to go forever to her left or right.

Pyrrha was so focused on inspecting the walls and fortifications that she didn't notice the other platoons were heading towards one of the structures nearby. However left behind besides them were twenty soldiers lined up in a single line.

"First Lieutenant Aster! Step forward!" Captain Madeg called out and Fusia stepped forward. While two other soldiers stepped forward, one was a short but thin man with dark hair and a pale complexion. The other was a tall well-built woman with short blonde hair with bronze skin and a scar on her right cheek.

"I've got you some volunteers to round out your platoon, Sergeant Comhnall Sgèin and Sergeant Trifina Martin. Both of them will assist you in operating in tandem with the Company so when they have something to say I really suggest you listen to them. Aside from that Duty Rosters will be handed out later and there will be a briefing at 2100 for all Platoon Commanders and their seconds so make sure you get there on time. Until then find your barrack and settle down." Madeg said before leaving them, the two groups slowly began to mingle amongst themselves in order to get to know each other.

"Alright, grab your kit and let's go." Martin calls out as she picked up her own bag and Pyrrha moved to follow her. Everyone else was grabbing their belongings as well and headed inside.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Pyrrha had to say she wasn't sure what she was expecting, at first when she saw the outside she'd figured the inside would match.

Which in part it did, it was clear that they were in a stone fortress but the way that pipes, wires, neon signs, ceiling lights, sliding metal doors, elevators, internal air circulation, heating vents, P.A. systems, fire suppression systems were littered around the area it gave the impression that while they were in a seemingly old fortress, the contents were much newer.

Their room or barrack had enough beds to fit fifty people with an adjourning shower and locker room. Team RWBY surprisingly had a little bit of an issue with it, mainly Weiss along with Yang on behalf of Ruby at the idea of grown men sharing the same showers as them.

As such the other female soldiers had to sit them down to talk about the rules or regulations of men and female contact in the Arcadian Military.

Pyrrha and Nora hadn't really minded since they already shared a bathroom with two guys. The thought of a naked Jaune made Pyrrha feel rather warm so she shook her head as Trifina walked past her bed.

"How you holding up kid?" The older woman asked and Pyrrha stood up straight.

"I'm doing fine ma'am." She said evenly while keeping her eyes straight but Trifina just laughed as she waved her down.

"Don't worry about that formal crap kid; since you're all just temporary soldiers all you have to do is make sure when we're in the field you watch the back of the person next to you." Pyrrha couldn't help but look down the barrack room where Jaune was talking with Ms. Aster.

"Ah, I see you're already comfortable with watching someone's back." Trifina said as she followed Pyrrha's look.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Pyrrha said as she looked back at the taller woman.

"Oh come on Pyrrha, we can all see it." Nora chimed from her bed which was on Pyrrha's right and the red head just sighed.

"Can we not talk about this; I'd rather know when we're going to go fight." She asked but the other two shrugged, in the corner of her eye she could see Ms. Aster and Jaune leave the barrack.

"You'll just have to wait till they get back then." Trifina said.

"I bet we're gonna be put on the line first." A new voice said and Pyrrha turned to see a man with a scraggly beard sit down on Jaune's bed which had been on her left.

"Jaffrelot you always say we're on the line first." Trifina said.

"Yea but when have I been wrong?" The man asked.

"Do you want the month or the yearly count?" Another person called out from the other side of the room.

"Ah, you don't know what you're talking about Fodla I've been right more than I've been wrong."

"We'd be here all night in order to figure that out Jaffrelot."

"Hey! I was the one to tell you all about the muster orders? Where's my thanks for that."

"That doesn't count." Another man said this one a tanned man with a barrel chest and arms thicker than most men's thighs.

"Of course it fucking counts, you'd still be snoozing at home you fat shit." The two men started to bicker and Trifina just sighed.

"Ignore those two, they always argue." The taller woman said and turned to walk away leaving Pyrrha alone.

"Hey, want to go explore?" Nora asked and Pyrrha thought for a moment.

"Sure why not." The shorter girl smiled and looked over her shoulder at Ren who was lying down on his own bed.

"Get up lazy bones, we're gonna look around."

"I guess it would be nice to familiarize ourselves with the area." The three of them got up and started to walk towards the barrack entrance when Ruby looked over at them.

"Where are you guys going?" She asked.

"We're gonna take a look around." Pyrrha said and Ruby hopped up from her bed.

"Oh, can we come?" She asked gesturing to the other three members of her team.

"I don't see why not." Pyrrha said.

"I for one would like to reach the top of the mountain, I'm curious to see how they expect to fight from up there." Weiss said as they left the barrack.

"Well judging from what we've seen so far I'd imagine they have some sort of weapon that they use to fight the Grimm." Ruby said.

"Ah, that sounds boring." Yang said.

"But it must be effective if that's what they're doing."

"Though that wouldn't explain why they would need so many soldiers here." Blake said.

"Well I guess they might need them to help man the walls or even cover the exposed areas; we didn't see any castle on the mountains when we were at Nimedos Keep."

"True and Jaune seemed to describe it as they have the soldiers patrol the mountains or valleys which would make sense if they had to cover the gaps in the fortifications." Ren said as they reached a metal door that opened up automatically as they neared it revealing a three way intersection. The seven of them stood in the center and looked at the signs before Ren pointed at what they assumed was the right one.

They went past another set of metal doors which revealed a long hallway that was illuminated by a series of pale white lamps built into the walls. At the far end was a metal door like they had just come through.

As the seven of them walked through this one they found that they were outside and Pyrrha looked around guessing they were on some sort of battlement. So she stepped forward to look out between the crenels.

Below them she could see a sea of tall trees, which they had seen so often in the Hurin Valleys, were not so far below them. As the sun set, a soft glow was cast over the mountains shining through the occasional cloud that hung low near the mountains.

Pyrrha shivered a little as the cold wind blew softly and she couldn't help but notice the smell of smoke mixing with the earthy smell of the forest. Looking to her right she could see a large wall or bridge considering its size that led to another stone Keep.

"It's not a bad view." Weiss said as the others looked out at the mountainside.

"Yea, I could actually get used to this." Yang said as she took a deep breath before exhaling, a tiny white puff of air escaping her mouth. No one said anything as they stood there their previous destination forgotten as they watched sky.

It was at that moment that Pyrrha heard something odd; it was the sound of thunder. Looking up at the sky she couldn't see any hint of rain or a storm in the darkening sky.

"What was that?" Ruby asked but none of them had the answer.

"So it's started." Someone said near them and the group turned to see Sergeant Sgèin.

"What's started?" Pyrrha asked.

"The fighting obviously, the Creatures of Grimm must be within range now of the Earthshaker cannons. To me that means you all should be heading back to the barracks now."

"Why?" Yang asked as she folded her arms and Pyrrha glanced at her as even she could hear the note of challenge in her voice.

"Well for one, temporary or not you're a soldier within the Arcadian Army and thus you shouldn't be asking why when I tell you to do something. The second reason is because the Grimm weren't supposed to be within range for at least another day or two."

"Wait, so they're attacking early?" Ruby asked and the man nodded.

"So what does that mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"It means this is your last night here in Kovas Keep, so get back to the barrack room and pack what you need to be in the field." The man said so the seven of them left with quick apologies though Blake and Ruby had to drag Yang along as the blonde hair girl seemed to be getting riled up for no reason.

It wasn't until they got back to the barracks that they started to realize just how serious the others were taking this. While before the atmosphere had been a little tense but overall relaxed as everyone settled in now it was tense with a subtle hint of fear in the air.

All of the soldiers were overlooking their equipment which was either set on their beds or the floor at the foot of their bed. Sergeant Martin and the two corporals of the squads were going from soldier to soldier checking the gear of the soldiers.

"So you guys are back." Jaune called out from his own bed, he was sitting down on it with Crocea Mors unsheathe on his lap. He had a piece of cloth and was rubbing down the blade of his weapon.

"When did you get back?" Pyrrha asked as she reached her own bed then picked up her stuff to pull out Miló and Akoúo.

"I just got back here a few minutes before you did, did Sgèin bring you back here?" He asked and Pyrrha nodded.

"Yea, I don't think Yang likes him." She said and Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"How come?"

"I don't know, I guess she didn't like him ordering us."

"Well I guess I can understand that but at the same time that's sort of expected of us." Jaune said and Pyrrha nodded as she began to take apart Akoúo to inspect the internal mechanisms.

"Which I totally understand but I guess not everyone likes getting told what to do."

"You can say that again, if anyone tried to command us other than you or the Professors at Beacon I would be a little testy as well." Nora chimed in from her own bed; she already had Magnhild out and was opening it up as well. While Ren set Storm Flower out on a white cloth on his bed which he began to take apart.

"Again, we all know why we're here and Captain Madeg and Governor Kagiris told us that we need to follow the Army's structure so I'm hoping you three won't make any trouble once we're in the field tomorrow." Jaune said.

"Speaking of tomorrow, what's going on Jaune? From what Sgèin said it seemed like something unusual has happened." Ren asked.

"And you're right; Ms. Aster and I were in the Company briefing room when runners were sent to inform us that the Creatures of Grimm have pushed straight towards the western mountains. Something that should have taken them longer to do since the Turin twists side to side in those valleys which makes going in a straight path impossible. "

"Impossible?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune nodded.

"Remember what I told you back in Nodens?" He asked and Pyrrha shrugged.

"The Turin River is massive; it stretches from deep within the Hurin Valleys right to the coast. There are vast stretches of it so deep that you'd run out of air before even getting halfway down."

"Really?" Nora asked and Jaune shrugged.

"Okay, I'm not sure about that one but I know it should be pretty hard for anything but the largest type of Grimm to cross."

"So I've got a question." Yang called out as she joined them as well and Jaune looked up at her.

"Sure, what is it?"

"How are we going to fight?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Yang gestured to the other soldiers and Jaune realized what she meant. The Arcadian Military fought with guns or pure firepower. For them there was no room or no need for universal bladed or other melee weapons to issue to their soldiers.

Though that didn't mean all of them didn't have such items, some soldiers especially those that do have their Aura unlocked sometimes take long daggers, short handle war axes, or even single edge Messer swords in battle as a backup weapon.

"I suppose that's something we need to figure out." Jaune said and Yang nodded as she sat down next to Pyrrha.

"I mean, we've got our methods in fighting and I'm sure you guys do as well but I can't imagine what we'll be doing with them." Yang said.

"It's simple really." A new voice said and the five of them looked up to see Fusia standing there in her usual outfit. The professional Huntress gestured for Ruby, Weiss and Blake to come over soon the eight of them were around the huntress.

"I've been talking with some of the other platoon leaders and they've suggested that our platoon combat doctrine be based around fire and maneuver only. The Arcadians have the better firepower so they'll pin or draw the Grimm in while we attack from the sides or in reserve we'll engage first until they get into position then to attack from the sides creating a kill box." She explained.

"Alright but that seems like it would only work for a relatively small group of Grimm." Weiss pointed.

"And you're right but you have to remember we're only one piece in this battle and considering our circumstances we might not even face the brunt of the Grimm attack." She said.

"Why not?" Ruby asked.

"The entire battalion is going to be deployed in the field however the companies aren't all put into one line of defense but two. Three companies will be sent to the first line which in the valley means that one company will be to the far south, the second will be by the river in the center with the third company at the base of the far northern mountains. Each respective area is supposed to have an outpost to anchor their defense around." Jaune explained.

"And the second line?" Blake asked.

"The second line really is more of a rapid response force; the two remaining companies will react accordingly to the situation. For instance if one of the positions is being overrun then one or both of the companies will fly in Valkyries to support the position. If multiple positions are under hard pressure then companies will split up sending at least two more platoons to assist. In addition to being in the Valkyries there's going to be a five strong Flight of Vultures attached to each company to provide close air support all while the Cybele Line provides overall artillery support. Plus there should be a Tank Company already on the ground in addition to other units that occupy the Outposts." Fusia explained.

"What?" Nora asked after a moment and Fusia sighed.

"Look Nora, just follow Jaune's lead." Fusia said after a moment before looking at Jaune.

"Ruby, Jaune, come with me and we'll talk with Sgèin and Martin about further breaking down the platoon if we need to split up. Afterwards I'll see about getting us some gear when we're in the field." Fusia said as she stood up, Ruby and Jaune stood up to follow her as well. Pyrrha watched as Jaune walked to the far end of the barrack room to talk with Sgèin and Martin.

"Ya know, now that I think about it, they have some funny names." Yang said and Weiss looked at her.

"Really?" She asked.

"I've never met anyone with a name like Sgèin even Trifina is an odd name."

"Well we must have some strange sounding names to them as well. Your name is Yang Xiao Long, I don't think we've met anyone with a name like that here, if anything I'd say Pyrrha and Weiss have the most similar name." Blake pointed out.

"What about Jaune?" Nora asked.

"Honestly I don't know but it's funny that his last name is also a part of the Kingdom's name." Yang said.

"Actually I asked one of the soldiers, he claims that Jaune's father was given that name by the previous ruler when he passed down the position."

"So Jaune's family only became royalty and wasn't born into it?" Weiss asked and Blake narrowed her eyes at the white hair girl.

"Thinking of marrying into it?" Blake winced however at the look of disgust that passed over Weiss's face but it passed quickly and she looked up to see that everyone was staring at her.

"It's nothing." She said and they looked away from her. As it was clear to see that there was indeed something there but none of them wanted to push.

"Hey the Sergeant said ya'll need some gear." A new voice said so they looked up to see a rather handsome young man with green eyes, pale skin and black hair.

"Mama likes." Yang whispered to Blake who just rolled her eyes.

"Uh, yea but we don't know what it is that we're supposed to need." Pyrrha said standing up and the man scratched his chin.

"Let's see, I guess you all need a fire starter kit, some cookware, a bed roll, water purifying tablets, flashlights with extra batteries, I think we have some spare vox sets, some field rations and water canteens." He listed off and frowned when he looked down at their weapons.

"We definitely don't have anything that would work with those." He said pointing at the weapons.

"Ah don't worry about it, we'll be fine." Yang said and the soldier nodded slowly before squatting down.

"Say, is it true that you Huntresses can crush a man's skull with one hand?" He asked and Pyrrha exchanged looks with the others.

"I supposed we could do some serious damage but none of us have every fought someone without Aura." Pyrrha said and again the man frowned.

"Really? What about bandits or marauders?"

"Well we're only students besides which our true enemies are the Creatures of Grimm." Ruby said.

"So, you've never killed a man?" He asked all of them shook their heads and he rubbed in mouth in thought.

"Well, ain't that something." The soldier stood up and extended his hand out to Pyrrha which she took.

"I forgot to introduce myself, Private Kaeso Culleolus, I'm in Martin's squad."

"Pyrrha Nikos, member of team JNPR under Jaune Arc." Kaeso seemed to pale a little at that out of excitement or fear she couldn't quite say.

"Why, it's, uh, an honor to meet you ma'am." He said stiffly and Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh a little.

"You don't need to say that, I'm pretty sure you're older than me." Kaeso nodded then gave a crisp salute to them.

"I'll see about getting you all your supplies before we head out tomorrow." He said before leaving them and Yang whistled after he was out of ear shot.

"Wow Pyrrha, wooing another man behind's Jaune's back? Scandalous." The blond hair girl said and Pyrrha threw a dark look at her which made Yang close her mouth. They soon broke away as Martin and Sgèin walked down the barracks calling for everyone to get to bed.

Jaune was soon getting to his bed and Pyrrha watched from under her blanket as he stripped off his Pumpkin Pete sweater to a black shirt that clung tightly to his form. When she had first seen the sweater she couldn't help but laugh a little at seeing how one of his prized possessions was from the brand she had posed for.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked softly and she snapped out of it when she could see that he was laying down now as he looked at her.

"Oh, sorry." She said but couldn't help but notice the smile that grew on his face.

"Don't be." He said and Pyrrha could feel his heart beat a little faster.

"You should get some sleep now Pyrrha, we're going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Jaune finally said after a few moments of silence. She nodded before turning onto her back; the lights in the ceiling of the barrack were off now so she closed her eyes trying to sleep but her mind raced with the possibilities of tomorrow.

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

Pyrrha double checked her backpack as she waited with the others to go inside a Chimera, whether it was the same on they arrived on or not she did not know. Prior to this they had been given backpacks and other supplies then spent most of the morning packing it up to the standards of the two Arcadian Sergeants.

Then they travelled up the mountain side through the various Keeps, using bridges, stairs and elevators until they reached the top where they were gathered in another square with high walls surrounding them.

She also found it was a little startling at having to hear the multiple long barreled cannons, Earthshakers if she recalled correctly, fire and they weren't quiet weapons either each time they fired she felt a small vibration in her chest.

"Company! Mount up!" A voice that she vaguely recognized as Madeg's yelled along with a chorus of other people yelling the same thing. Immediately, the soldiers pushed forward climbing into the back of their Chimeras so Pyrrha followed Jaune as he climbed in.

She quickly took a seat ignoring the discomforting of leaving her backpack on as the rest of them piled in. Nora and Ren sat to her right while team RWBY sat across from them, the last to enter was Fusia who pulled the hatch closed then sat down.

With all of them in there it was a little cramped as they had their stuffed backpacks and weapons out. Yang and Ren had it the easiest to carry as their weapons were the most compact followed by Gambol Shroud which lay between Blake's legs.

Ruby, Nora, and her own weapons were a little more difficult since even in its compact form Crescent Rose wasn't a small weapon, Magnhild however was relatively large even in its compact grenade launcher form which made it difficult to sit comfortably for Nora.

As for Miló and Akoúo they had to sit on her own lap. Jaune and Weiss however were forced to keep their weapons upright between their legs. Which made it difficult as the interior of the Chimera was barely enough to stand up.

"We've been assigned to the southern outpost, it should take us about an hour to get there but be mindful this is a race against the clock." Fusia said finally said a little while after the Chimera jolted forward, it along with the dozens of other armored vehicles made a tremendous racket that it made listening to her difficult.

"A race?" Yang asked loudly over the noise of the transports.

"We have to get there between attacks; if we don't get there at the right moment then we have to fight them off immediately before reinforcing the inhabitants of the Outpost."

"Wait, I'm confused, if there's already someone in the Outpost why send us out at all?" Blake asked.

"The reason is because the wall isn't a full proof defense, while it's an impressive structure, it's only covers so much territory. If you haven't noticed this then let me just point out that when we arrived at Nimedos Keep that was the only fortification there. So they've set the Outposts out as a screening defense for the mountain walls." Jaune explained.

"So what you're saying is we're a distraction?" Weiss asked.

"No, it's taken them nearly a decade to construct the wall and even then they had to do it in sections since the Grimm occasionally attack makes it difficult to build as they're fighting them off. Even now construction is going on, however if construction stops every time to Grimm attacks then it just adds on the amount of time till complete plus if the Grimm do attack the unfinished walls then any damage will only further slowdown construction."

"So wait, if the boundaries for the Hurin Valleys don't have fortifications to protect them either why is this one so important?" Weiss asked and Jaune shook his head.

"No, Nimedos proved that wasn't the case but they're nowhere as extensive as the western wall is at the moment as the priority is the western wall for the amount of times the Creatures of Grimm have advanced from the west into the valleys."

"Why do the Creatures of Grimm attack from the west so often?" Ren asked and everyone noticed Jaune hesitating.

"Honestly I don't really know other than that there's supposed to be a large congregation of Grimm in a region to the northwest. Even before the Great War it was considered a no go zone for the Kingdoms as no matter how many times they tried clearing it out the Grimm always returned in high numbers that meant holding ground there was next to impossible." Jaune explained and everyone just sat to think about that tidbit of information for a while.

"Wait a minute, if the Brigade mostly deploys its forces to guard the north, east, and southern boundaries of the Hurin Valleys who's guarding the western wall and these Outposts?" Ren asked.

"Ah, well that would be the Defensive Companies that mostly man the fortifications of the Hurin Valleys."

"Defensive Companies?" Pyrrha asked.

"Ah, right, well Defensive Companies fall under the same category as Heavy Weapons or Support Companies whereas they're independent of the general organizational structure while still being a part of it. Man, that sounded confusing even to me, anyways, they form their own operational units that assist others in the field."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense, if these companies are needed to support the other army units why have them separate at all?" Weiss asked and Jaune shrugged.

"I wondered the same myself, the best guess I can come up with is that the nature of battle means that certain tools aren't needed on every front simultaneously but that doesn't mean they're not needed at all. While every army unit having everything it needs on hand is useful the logistical and tactical strain I'd imagine would be a lot. First you need to take care of the needs of your infantry, how many are there, are they all armed and armored. Do they have all the ammunition they need to face other infantry or light armor but then you have to make sure they're fed, watered and have medical supplies as well. Then there are things like Chimeras, and Tauros Rapid Assault Vehicles. Do they have enough fuel, spare parts, their own ammunition, even trained operators? The same can be applied to the various types of tanks. Why have all of these things clustering one chain of command when you can break the various tasks and needs down to separate units." Jaune said and Weiss nodded.

"I see, it reminds me of looking at the logs of the day to day operations in the SDC. There were more than a few hundred incoming or outgoing shipments along with the endless requests for new equipment and shifting of personnel from department to department." Weiss said.

"So I've got another question, how exactly are we supposed to use these again?" Blake asked as she lifted her chin to point at the device around her neck. Two small black pads pressed up to either side of her throat as it wrapped around behind her neck with a small translucent earpiece that dangled off it.

"That's a throat microphone or a laryngophone, since we don't have helmets which are normally used that means we have no means of communication over long distance. These nifty little things however absorb vibrations directly from our throats via these two sensors which you can click to send and to receive you use the earpiece. Though be mindful they've got limited range even on open ground so try not to get too far away or else there's no way to communicate safely." Jaune explained by tapping the two sensors with his thumb and forefinger then gesturing to the earpiece.

"So how long till we arrive?" Nora asked.

"We must be there already; it feels like we've been in here forever." Yang added and Fusia pulled out a watch from a pant pocket.

"We're still about thirty minutes away." She said and Nora groaned while Yang just sighed.

"Well damn."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

He watched as the captured man was flayed alive, though in truth it was nothing more than a mercy has he had already broken the man's mind. At least now his body would be of use to the Pantheon where his mind was not.

Below him he had a five thousand strong force or a Legion as he liked to call gathered amongst a cluster of hills. He needed to give them some time to rest before pushing them any farther north; he could feel it in his bones, battle was close.

As he knew how to read the wind and stars so when they told him that danger was nearby he was no fool to ignore such signs. A part of him also knew that he was still recovering from his near death at the hands of the Pale Witch.

He knew what her name was but something about it rang differently than most. Names were symbols of Power both in the materium and Sea of Souls. Whenever he said hers, ills omens would emerge, ones that even he were unfamiliar with and while he enjoyed a challenge he knew that this world operated on a different set of Laws than his own though he wasn't sure that they were exclusive.

Nonetheless to ignore them would only lead to his death.

His thoughts were interrupted however at the sound of thunder to the north however he knew it was no storm of nature but of battle.

His blood boiled at the thought of having to serve at the whims of that Pale Witch. Yet being able to strike at those that would otherwise stand in their way of instilling the proper worship of the Pantheon on this world was something he would not pass up even if it meant helping another enemy.

Ever since he made that infernal pact, he's been gathering scattered groups from the Great host. First he picked up eight hundred Warriors in some frozen land by a sea. Then was transported to a coast where another three thousand Warriors and Marauders were gathering at the Pale Witch's command.

He had to fight two others that tried to take the mantle of command which ate up the better part of a day. Now though he had a legion of harden warriors, marauders, knights, siege engines and even a few Bloodbeasts at his back. With such a force he would be able to strike a deadly blow at these; Arcadians as the Pale Witch weakened them with her own creatures.

"My lord." A voice said from behind him and he turned to see one of his new lieutenants bowing. The Warrior had blue plate armor with golden swirls that seemed to move on his armor.

"What is it Ukxorkart?" He asked turning away from the now still corpse of a man.

"Your Outriders have spotted the valley; it's at most half a day's march north."

"Did they see any of these Arcadians?" He asked and Ukxorkart nodded.

"Yes my lord, they spotted three structures that were spaced out within the valley but they weren't able to get closer in fear of being spotted."

"Good. Once we crested those mountains I want Akerba to take six hundred Warriors and eight hundred Marauders then swing east to cut off any line of retreat. Then tell Krimval he's got command of the legion's banners and he's to head west to draw their attention away from us. Though tell Blaokrazyx and Ghemzetts to have their Great Companies meet me as Az'gelloth and his brothers are coming with me along with Drukthich's riders that way we can hit them in the flank. Now go, you've got an hour to spread my orders." Ukxorkart nodded then got up before heading back down the hill. He looked towards the north where more thunder rumbled and smiled.

Yet it was no smile of joy or relief but of excitement.

It was a smile that held the excitement for war.

* * *

 **The Previous Day…**

Captain Bertram Hoffman was lying next to the heavy stubber on the turret of his Sicaran Command Tank _Lion's Pride_ ; around him his tank platoon was arrayed out in a grassy field behind the South Valley Outpost.

The Sicaran Heavy Tank had an overall length of ten meters with a width of nine meters and a height of nearly seven meters which made it a massive tank. Or in some cases a massive target.

For protection however it had a little more than a foot of Syn plating for armor making it strong enough to take hits from Shaped Charges, HEAT Rounds, and most Kinetic Penetrators.

In addition it had a hundred and thirty five millimeter smoothbore main cannon. Along with a coaxial assault stubber and a pintle mounted heavy stubber making it able to dish out a lot of damage while taking a lot in return.

The downside to them is that they're expensive and take time to make along with being a little slow in comparison to the Tempest or Predator tanks. As such in their current form he'd doubt if they would ever become the main tank of the Arcadian Military.

His crew was lounging around a pot that had some stew bubbling in it on the ground next to the Sicaran. Around them the other tanks of the Command Platoon were resting as well with their crews lounging about.

The field was normally used for mustering or as the landing zone for incoming airdrops and Valkyries. Though for the time being it was where his tanks were waiting as being hold up in the Outpost would make quick reaction difficult.

Some of his old Commanders would be irate at the lax attitudes of the tank crews but Hoffman knew it would be better to have his crews be relaxed but alert before a fight than tense. As there was always the chance of someone snapping under the pressure which would distract the entire crew leaving them open to getting hit badly in a fight.

"Aslac come on, it's obviously done." Michael Forbor, his driver, whined.

"No it ain't now shut your face." His gunner, Aslac Niven, snapped back.

"He's ruining it! Dolan please; don't let him burn it again." Michael said addressing the largest man amongst them, his loader Dolan Coryn. The youngest of them who was also his Vox Operator Tissot Cowne snorted before bursting out into laughter.

"Alright, alright fine, give me your damn bowls." Aslac said with a little more restraint as the normally choleric man had a soft spot for the young girl. Some would attribute it to desire but Hoffman knew the man long enough that it was because the young girl reminded him of his older sister. She had died three years prior to him joining the Army on the sea when her frigate was ambushed by several Sea Feilongs.

"Captain." A new voice called out and Hoffman turned to see a soldier with the emblem of a Sergeant on his right shoulder pad standing on the other side of the Sicaran.

"What is it?" He asked.

"The Creatures of Grimm were spotted at Phase Line Red" The man said and Hoffman sighed. Phase Line Red was the final point of the Arcadian Forward Observation Line to monitor the movement of the Grimm and how close they were.

"Thank you, you can return to the Outpost." The man nodded before jogging back up to the Outpost and Hoffman picked up his helmet. Unlike the standard infantry helmet, tank crews had helmet that emphasized ear protection as such they weren't enclosed like their infantry counterpart but had slightly larger sides around the ears.

"Alright, pack it up we've got work to do!" Hoffman shouted and there was some grumbling but he noted with satisfaction that everyone moved with practiced efficiency to put out the camp fires or pack their things as they got back into their tanks.

The Command Platoon had a fighting strength of five tanks, three Sicaran Heavy Tanks including his own and two Predator Battle Tanks. It was enough firepower to take on all but the heaviest armor or the largest of foes.

Yet with his Company spread out, Hoffman couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about being the only unit in support of the Outpost. An Infantry Company was supposed to be stationed here tomorrow but it seemed that the Creatures of Grimm had other plans.

As his crew took their respective spots inside the heavy tank and it roared to life he knew that no matter how strong they were to get bogged down with no infantry support would be a nightmare for any crew.

While most tank commander would argue that infantry support is only paramount in urban environments. Hoffman's experience showed that shallow patrols with infantry support allowed maximum killing potential in the infantry's or small unit fire and maneuver tactics along with tank survival.

As more often than not its tank crews that buy into their hype at how strong or tough they are that they end up biting off more than they can chew.

As he situated himself in the command hatch, he got distracted as the Hydra battery in the Outpost opened up. There were four of them located on the east side of the Outpost and even from out in the fields behind the position Hoffman could feel the rapid thumping of the heavy caliber shells in the air.

Looking up he could see around thirty Nevermores of various sizes beginning to scatter however at least half a dozen were already falling towards the ground.

"Captain, orders?" Michael asked, his voice buzzing in Hoffman's headset

"Take us south four hundred meters past the Outpost then swing us west another eight hundred then wait for further orders. Tissot relay orders to 1-2 and 1-3 to push north with similar instructions with 1-4 and 1-5 following us." Hoffman said and Tissot quickly spoke into her Vox Caster before long the five tanks jerked to a start moving in their respective directions.

 _Lion's Pride_ and the two Predator Battle Tanks pushed southward as the other two Sicaran Heavy Tanks pushed north around the Outpost. The South Valley Outpost a relatively large fortification however it wasn't as strong as the western wall or main fortifications mainly due to the fact it was largely built out of wood with some stone foundations.

The overall shape of the Outpost was that of an isosceles trapezoid, the long side of the wall facing west with several towers spaced out along its length. Each tower held a Lancer Field Gun on top while in-between the towers on the ramparts were two Serpent Infantry Guns and one Sabre Platform.

Off to the south and north walls the ramparts only held one Serpent Infantry Gun with one Sabre Platform. On the eastern wall were four towers that held Hydras Platforms for anti-air protection along with the Outpost's gate entrance.

With a central Keep that serves as the Outpost's headquarters, three separate lines of barracks each capable of housing more than two hundred men each and a vehicle depot. The Outpost as a whole however was manned by the three hundred soldiers of the 203rd Defensive Company.

In every direction around the Outpost for at least one mile was cleared of the various Spruces, Oaks, Pines and Fir trees a long time ago many of which ended up being used in the Outposts construction.

To the west a few hundred meters out from the Outpost was a trench line fifteen feet wide and ten feet deep filled with barbwire along with caltrops all of which was meant to impede smaller creatures. This trench line stretched to the far north and south into the distant trees.

As the trio of tanks approached the line Hoffman couldn't help but wonder about its effectiveness but Hoffman knew his history, the origin of the trench was supposed to be occupied by the Arcadian Army.

Alas, the amount of soldiers needed to man the trench was very impractical for the amount of soldiers they had on hand. As such it was decided a smaller number of soldiers could be used on three points than a ridiculous amount of soldiers along a single line too long to maintain with their resources.

He looked northward as the Lancer Field Guns opened up; the heavy caliber cannons let loose a deep boom that seemed to roll over them like thunder. Hoffman lowered himself down into the Sicaran's command chair.

"Tissot patch me through to the platoon net." He said and the younger woman nodded as she hit something on her caster then pointed at him.

"This is 1-1 to all Elements how copy?" Hoffman said clicking his throat microphone.

"This is 1-2, loud and clear." Lieutenant Fevre, commander of the second Sicaran Heavy Tank, responded.

"1-1 this is 1-3, read you loud and clear." Lieutenant Pichon commander of the third Sicaran responded.

"1-4 here, you're good to go Captain." Lieutenant Herve of the first Predator Tank said.

"1-5 to 1-1 your signal is loud and clear." Lieutenant Govig of the second Predator tank and last tank in the command platoon said.

"1-2 what's your 10-77"

"10-77 is two minutes."

"Roger, stand by for orders." Hoffman said before turning to Tissot.

"Patch me to the 203rd C.P."

"Yes sir." She said before adjusting the vox set then pointed to him again.

"Oak this is Timber, how copy?" Hoffman said using call sign that his Company had been given.

"Timber we read you five by five." A familiar voice said.

"Roger that Oak, is that you Murphy?" Hoffman asked.

"Yes sir, the Captain wants to know your position?"

"We're southwest about three hundred meters out just past the forward trench line, what's the field looking like?"

"Hang on." Hoffman winced as a large Nevermore fell a few hundred feet away knocking down a few small trees.

"Hoffman, its Riada." Abigail Riada, Captain of the 203rd Defensive Company, answered and while she was still at the rank of Captain she was at least a decade older than him.

"I've got eyes on three Ursai packs heading in your direction right now; I'm directing an Earthshaker Battery to fire on them let me know if they get too close though."

"Roger that, keep me posted if or when the Grimm make it within a hundred meters of the wall." Hoffman said before nodding to Tissot that she could take over.

"Contacts at 3-3-7!" Michal called out and Hoffman immediately stood up raising himself out of the hatch before grabbing onto the pintle mounted heavy stubber. In the distant trees he could see the hulking black and white forms of Ursai moving amongst them.

"Gunner! High Explosive target lead Ursa Major, range 500!" Hoffman called out.

"Identified!" Aslac shouted shortly after the turret turned in the direction that was shouted earlier.

"Up!" Called out Dolan indicating the proper round was in.

"Fire!"

"Firing!" The Sicaran's hundred and thirty five millimeter cannon fired. Even with his helmet on, the sound of the large caliber cannon firing rang in Hoffman's ears. In the distance the lead Ursai disappeared in an explosion that ripped apart the trunks of two trees that it had been near. The two Predators fired shortly after with a pair of explosions blossoming in the distance.

Overhead a few bright red streaks came in impacting the ground near the advancing Ursai Pack, no doubt from the wall. Hoffman gripped the heavy stubber as the Creatures of Grimm came closer then opened up, while not as loud as the cannon fire, the constant thumping of the heavy caliber machine gun was hard to miss up close.

Whether or not he managed to kill more than one Ursai was tough but as the two Predators added their own heavy stubber fire it became nothing but a mess of things far too complicated to keep proper track of.

However he noticed that a number of Ursai were starting to swing wide, the Predators to either side tracked these diverging foes with their turret and heavy stubbers. Yet Hoffman knew that even with the long range support of the Earthshaker Battery he needed to shift positions.

"Michael! Move us back 200 meters, Tissot relay my orders to 1-4 and 1-5." Hoffman said as he pulled out another box of ammunition for the heavy stubber. The Ursai were getting closer now, several Ursa Minors were less than a hundred yards from them.

The trio of tanks were pulling back slowly firing everything they had. However Hoffman couldn't help but notice that the Earthshaker Battery fire had lessened.

"Captain, the Outpost is requesting fire support!" Tissot called out and Hoffman cursed as he fired a ten second long burst at an Ursa Minor. Under the sustained assault of heavy caliber rounds, the Ursa Minor's white carapace head shattered.

"Tissot tell Herve and Govig to get across the trench line first, Michael stop the tank and Aslac fire at will and Tissot once those two are across the trench we'll be going next so tell them to be ready to cover our retreat." As Hoffman looked up he was surprised to see an Ursa Minor coming from their left less than a dozen meters away and closing.

He cursed as he gripped the pintle mounted heavy stubber with both hands bring it around before letting loose with it. However the heavy stubber was barely slowing the Grimm down as it finally reached the tank.

As its claws scrapped against the armor in its attempt to climb up, Hoffman could hear his crew shouting as the sound was no doubt very noticeable inside the tank. He cursed as he dropped back into the turret closing the hatch with him as a few seconds later the sound of claws scraping indicated that it was probably the smart move.

However something started rattling loudly against the hull but it didn't sound like claws. Instead it sounded like small arms fire.

"Govig says he got the Ursa on us!" Tissot called out.

"Spend my compliments now get us moving Michael!"

"Aye!" The driver called as Aslac sent a canister shell down range, a dozen Ursa Minors died as they were struck by a shower of tungsten balls going at forty six hundred feet a second.

Once his Sicaran was across the trench line Hoffman received two reports from his other two tanks and the Outpost.

The two Sicaran Heavy Tanks had to retreat after a brief engagement with Beowolves that ended up being reinforced by four Death Stalkers.

As for the Outpost the Grimm were battering away at the wooden walls, the Serpent Infantry Guns and Sabre Platforms were the only things holding them away as the Nevermores had returned heedless of the anti-air fire of the Hydras.

"Those fuckers are hitting the trenches!" Aslac called out and Hoffman looked through his view port. The optical camera was a little fuzzier than normal but he could see a wave Beowolves falling into the trenches. He couldn't get a reasonable count but he had to assume at least a hundred or more of them fell.

A few of the Beowolves could be seen trying to claw their way back up but the entanglement of barb wire did its job in trapping the panicking creatures.

However the next wave of Grimm were aware of this trench, the more nimble Beowolves were leaping across it while Ursai knocked over trees in attempt to use it as a bridge to get across.

Cursing softly Hoffman ordered the tanks to fall back to the Outpost; the three of them wouldn't be able to hold off the swarm of Grimm by themselves. He did fear a little that they might swing past them ignoring the Outpost altogether opting to head further east but he knew that the three of them couldn't hold the forest alone.

As the tanks pulled back towards the Outpost before coming to a stop on a small hill that lay at the edge of the large western clearing and Hoffman could see how things were getting out of hand.

The western wall was ablaze with cannon or heavy stubber fire that the field before it was littered with the dead bodies of Grimm.

The collective miasmic smoke coming off their bodies made it seem like a large fire was happening. Explosions ripped apart the fallen and still alive while arcs of heavy stubber fire chewed away at the Grimm.

However more of them were clawing at the wooden walls, some of them even attempting to climb up it. Defenders on the walls however were firing straight down at them keeping them from getting to far up.

Relaying quick orders Hoffman placed the two Predators to guard the flank from the Grimm that were after them as he position his Sicaran to fire from the flank of the Grimm.

Hoffman opened the hatch again; thin scratches covered the turret as he grabbed the heavy stubber quickly checking it for damage. Satisfied that it was in working order he reached down to grab another box of ammunition then began to load it up as another shell was fired at the battlefield.

As the shell exploded taking a handful of Beowolves and an Ursa Minor Hoffman worked the charging handle of the heavy stubber. Letting off a quick five second burst though it didn't really have any visible effect like the cannon fire or torrent of gunfire unleashed by the Sabre platforms.

In the distance however something came smashing through the trees, on the far side of the field was a large Death Stalker, which seemed to be coming straight for them.

"Gunner, H.E.A.T, target the Death Stalker at 3-5-5, distance 1800 and closing!"

"Identified!"

"Up!"

"Fire!"

"Firing!" The tank fired and Hoffman watched as the right side of the Death Stalker was obscured by an explosion. The Grimm screeched in pain and as the smoke cleared Hoffman could see that the right pincer was in shambles however it was still alive.

Before they could fire another shell two more Death Stalkers came out of the forest. These two looked like they just got out of a fight; one had cracks visible on its carapace while the other had a mangled tail. Hoffman felt the blood drain from his face as the three Death Stalkers moved towards them together.

"Shit."

* * *

 **Present Time…**

No one said anything as the Chimera rocked side to side as it moved faster. Even inside the armored transport they could hear the sounds of battle even outside.

Jaune couldn't help but feel a little nervous about going into a fight. Now he was no stranger to a fight but dueling in a controlled environment and panicking in a flight or fight situation like when Areto dumped him into a forest alone seems a lot different than this.

"Alright listen up, we have our deployment orders, our platoon will deploy further south from the Outpost. We're to come up on the southern flank to help secure it with some tanks that are supposed to be in the vicinity. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Platoon will push the center to reinforce the Outpost while 4th Platoon pushes north. Now here's how I want us to deploy, Ruby take your team and attach yourself with Sgèin's squad. Jaune your team is with Martin's squad, don't clump up, spread out to make sure you cover as much ground as you can but don't go too far if either section needs support the other has to go in and help them. Understood?" Fusia asked and everyone kept silent except for Jaune.

"And what are you going to be doing?" He asked.

"Simple, I'll be my own squad."

"Wait, is that a good idea?" Weiss asked.

"Maybe but trust me, I'm a professional." Fusia said.

"30 seconds!" A voice called out from and Pyrrha mimicked Fusia as she put her earpiece in.

"Go!" Fusia said as the Chimera jerked to a halt, the hatch dropped and the nine of them flooded out the transport.

Pyrrha immediately looked around; they were in a small clearing, to the northwest was what she assumed was the Outpost. She also noticed that the air was filled with booms and crackles of conflict with the dull roar of what she had to guess was hundreds if not thousands of Grimm that were supposed to be attacking the area.

"There!" Ruby called out and Pyrrha spun around only to see a dozen Beowolves coming out from behind a cluster of trees a few hundred feet away. As the Beacon students readied their weapons, the two squads of Arcadian soldiers knelt or lay down on the ground as they began to fire along with the three heavy stubbers on the Chimeras.

The combined firepower of the Chimeras, rifles and what Martin had called Assault Stubbers slammed into the charging Grimm. Pyrrha could see the Grimm slow down considerably as they were hit by a hail of gunfire, three immediately went down while the others progressively got slower and slower.

Pyrrha not wanting to be considered a liability switched Miló to its rifle form as she wanted to fire as well along with Nora, Weiss and Blake reading their own weapons.

Jaune, Ren, Blake and Yang however waited for the Grimm to come closer as their weapons didn't have the range or a weapon at all that could hit at range.

Yet she could see that it wasn't necessary for them to engage as the Arcadian soldiers eliminated the remaining Beowolves before they even got within a hundred feet.

"Alright let's move out!" Fusia said before jogging in what Pyrrha assumed was the direction they were supposed to go.

"You heard her." Ruby said to her team as she took off in the same direction, Sgèin's squad getting up to follow them.

"Let's get moving we don't want to lag behind." Martin's voice came through into Pyrrha's earpiece; she had a hard time telling who was who was with their helmets being all the same plus the armor seemed to tone down their figures.

"Come on guys, five meter spread." Jaune said as he took Crocea Mors off his belt and expanded his sheath after pulling the sword out. They jogged towards the trees with the others; the Chimeras had already turned to head towards the Outpost.

Pyrrha didn't say anything as the group jogged through the trees; occasionally Martin would call for her squad to stop. This prompted Jaune to stop and gesture for them to get low to the ground which of course she'd do.

A few times they would run into groups of Grimm but none of them were larger than the first group they saw which the Arcadians would dispatch without their help. Now and then they would see team RWBY and Sgèin's squad mopping up an area of dead Grimm.

They would continue to run through the forest for what seemed like forever. That is until the thin crackles and soft booms of explosions she had heard earlier became much more pronounced. Now she could hear sharp cracks and thunderous explosions that made her insides shake a little even at a distance.

"Sounds like things are heating up out there." Martin said as she took off her helmet. Most of the squad was spread out to watch the surrounding forest along with Ren and Nora. Jaune, Pyrrha, Martin were kneeling down next to her corporal and Vox Operator as they listened to the chatter of other platoons that had already engaged the Grimm.

Pyrrha looked to see a few dozen feet away team RWBY and Sgèin's squad were coming to join them interestingly enough Fusia had yet to show up or answer their hails.

"What's going on?" Sgèin called out as he, Ruby and Weiss joined them. Yang, Blake and the rest of Sgèin's squad joined the perimeter watch.

"We're trying to figure out what's our next move since First Lieutenant Aster hasn't responded or shown up." Martin said as she held out the Vox-caster's handset to the other sergeant.

"Then why are we standing around? Sounds like someone's already in a messy fight over there." Weiss pointed out after they listened to it for a few seconds.

"I think we should go looking for Ms. Aster, she might be hurt." Ruby said.

"No." Martin said and Ruby frowned.

"No? None of us know where she is nor has she said anything so she might need help." The younger girl said.

"While you have a point Ruby, you have to realize we've got a job to do. We need to support the rest of the Company in beating back the Grimm. The Outpost is the only thing that's drawing the full attention of the Grimm, if it falls then we'll have no way of completing stopping the Grimm from going further east." Jaune said gesturing in its direction as a rippling sound wave of loud explosions washed over them.

"Then we should split up, I'll take my team and looked for her while you take the two squads with you." Ruby said but this time Pyrrha shook her head.

"I think we should listen to them Ruby, it seems like they'll need every person they can get their hands on to defend the Outpost and if what you said is correct then it's out of our hands so we should focus on who we can save now and that's these soldiers." The taller girl said and Weiss put a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Ruby, I can't disagree with them on this, it might be best if we stick with them." The younger girl frowned as she looked away but all of their attention was soon turning as one of the Assault Stubbers opened up in a ten second burst followed by a few other bursts of rifle fire.

"No more discussion, we're going to the Outpost, now." Sgèin said as he stood up and fired a five round burst in the direction the others were shooting in.

"We'll take point Sgèin." Jaune said before looking at Pyrrha who nodded before following him as he called out for Ren and Nora to follow him.

The four of them along with team RWBY took off in the direction of the fighting though Jaune cursed at how fast everyone else was as he was soon in the back of the group.

Of course he also noticed Pyrrha dropping back and it irked him since he was painfully aware that the tall red head was much faster than him.

As the others slowed down Jaune knew that they were close to the Outpost. Though seeing how the Outpost was larger along with being in greater detail that he could see the various weapon platforms firing as well as the damage it had sustained would have told him the same thing.

Most of the fighting however was still obscured by a small hill that lay between them and the Outpost. As they got to the foot of the hill, Jaune noticed three different sets of tracks. The tracks looked like small trenches within the soft ground of the forest.

"Look out!" Pyrrha said as she stopped abruptly as Beowolves appeared to either side. Jaune brought his shield up at an angle as one came dangerously close with a paw, as it slid away from his shield Jaune stabbed at the Grimm's exposed torso.

His blade buried itself a foot deep and reacting by instinct he pulled the sword up before swinging upward taking the Grimm's arm off at the elbow before bringing it down again only to hit it in the shoulder.

More Grimm started appearing around them as Jaune pulled his sword out of the now dead Grimm. He ducked under another swipe before jumping up and forward barreling into the Beowolf.

He was a little surprised as the Beowolf stumbled back a little giving him the opening to stab upward impaling his sword through the bottom of its jaw out the top of its head.

Behind him Pyrrha flipped over a Beowolf, slicing with Miló in its javelin form in a backhanded swing as she flung Akoúo at another Grimm.

The bronze shield slammed into its face breaking it's maw before coming back to her hand as she landed twisting around with her hand on the end of Miló coming around to cut across the throat of the Grimm.

Something snapped, while the noise of the fight made hearing things a little difficult, this particular sound was something that Pyrrha noticed as it quickly went from a simple snap to a loud creaking.

Glancing up she could see one of the large spruce trees near them toppling towards her, she jumped aside as it finally crashed down conveniently slamming down on a Beowolf that had been trying to attack her from behind.

Jaune looked over his shoulder at the sound and found that a large tree was separating him from his team. To his south team RWBY was slowing making their way towards him but the sheer amount of Beowolves was slowing them down.

A Beowolf snarled as it lunged at him, Jaune angled his shield up as he quickly crouched then jumped up slamming the flat of his shield against the bottom of its jaw. His sword quickly followed embedding itself in its throat before pulling out to slash at a reaching paw; the sword edge took off four of its digits.

He followed through with the blow bringing the sword up in a diagonal cut going across the Beowolf's torso. He couldn't deliver another blow as another Beowolf came at him, the large Grimm barreled into him and Jaune struggled to stay on his feet as he used his shield to protect himself.

Alas he was too close to the fallen tree and it made his footing difficult as his legs got tangled amongst the branches before his legs hit the trunk of the tree he fell backwards with the Beowolf lashing out to get at him.

He gritted his teeth as he swung frantically at a low angle hitting something though for all he knew he was hitting the tree.

However the Beowolf finally howled in pain as something gave way after his tenth strike and he took the chance to push his sword up towards him. The tip struck the Beowolf in the side under the arm burying itself into its chest.

In the corner of his eye he saw another Beowolf coming at him on all fours but he had yet to get the current one off him. Jaune wiggled hard, pulling frantically to get his sword free as the Beowolf got close to him now in a charge, its mouth open in anticipation to bite him.

As the sword came free the only thing Jaune had time to do was simply raise it point first at the charging Grimm.

In a moment, Jaune found that his sword arm was embedded deep within the Grimm. He could feel his arm in something that felt far too soft for comfort then noticed the teeth around his elbow and he would have felt relief at it being dead had it not also had said teeth clamped painfully down on his arm.

Looking at his arm he could see a white light rippling across his arm like water when a rock had been dropped in it. The pain of was becoming unbearable as his mind began to panic at the situation he was in.

He was his back with both arms being hampered with no way to actually get a look at the fight, a part of his brain was screaming at him how he was going to die.

Something pressed down on him and he gasped before wheezing at its weight. Above him another Beowolf was climbing on the back of the now dead Beowolf, the black miasma leaked out from the open mouth and eyes of the Grimm obscuring his vision a little as the red eyes of the other Beowolf appeared.

Jaune didn't say or yell anything; it surprised him a little that he didn't as he watched the Beowolf open its mouth. At that moment Yang came into his vision screaming, she struck from the side with the left gauntlet of Ember Celica destroying the lower jaw of the Grimm before following with an upper cut that took the rest of the head off.

Small arms fire began to ring out like thunder as the Arcadian squads caught up though Jaune was mostly ignoring the fighting now. As Yang now stood watch over him as he managed to tuck his legs in then push out lifting the dead Beowolf off him.

"Jaune?! Are you okay!?" Pyrrha called out as she appeared in his sight.

"I'm fine." Jaune grunted as he let go of his shield in order to pry the other Beowolf's jaw off his sword arm. Yang sighed as she reached down and grabbed helped him pry it open. Everything below his elbow including his sword was wet with moisture and Jaune felt like gagging a little but kept it down.

"That was a fun fight." Yang remarked casually as the soldiers walked among the corpses of the Grimm occasionally firing into one. Jaune rubbed his arm slowly which ached despite his Aura though he was worried about it after seeing the white simmer earlier.

"Are you alright?" Sgèin's voice called out as they turned to see a soldier jogging up to them.

"Yea, the Beowolves ambushed us but we held our own." Jaune said.

"Well most of us." Yang said and Jaune shot her a look before looking up at the hill. Grabbing Crocea Mors he started to push up the hill, Sgèin and Martin barked out orders while his team followed him with team RWBY moving up to his right.

Dead Grimm littered the top their forms twisted and broken as they lay sprawled upon the churned ground. As they reached the top, Jaune saw the battle raging below them and he could hear some of the others gasping in surprise.

Below them was a clearing littered with dead or dying Grimm the collective miasma of their dead or dying left a black fog that obscured their vision a little as it hung over the over like a blanket. To their right was the battered looking wooden walls of the Outpost with the defenders that still fought on but Jaune could see they've taken some serious hits.

Nevermore feathers were embedded in various places and he could see that on some of the towers small fires were blossoming from destroyed if not crippled weapon emplacements.

At the foot of the wall he could see that's where the bodies were thickest, enough Grimm had died under the guns of the Outpost that other Grimm could climb up the bodies to get within jumping distance. He looked at the others and could see that they collectively all had different reactions.

Blake and Weiss were giving the battlefield a cold calculating look as if they were shutting part of themselves down at the carnage. Ren and Nora looked almost pained as if they were remembering something that they wished they didn't.

Ruby and Yang looked determined for very different reasons. For the youngest member of the two teams she looked determined to just go in there and if Jaune had to guess is was no doubt because she wanted to save the soldiers in the Outpost. Yang on the other hand looked like she was about to explode in more ways than one from excitement.

Glancing at Pyrrha he could see that if anything she looked like she was studying the fight. That didn't seem so surprising; aside from Yang she was the most attuned to picking apart a fight.

"Down there!" Someone called out and Jaune's attention was drawn down to the bottom of the hill. There he could see a Predator Battle Tank sitting helplessly as four Ursa Minors worked to get inside.

"Sgèin, Martin, hold this hill top and cover us everyone else with me." Jaune called out, the two Arcadian Squads spread out with four to either side while the two Assault Stubbers were set up in the center with the rest covering the rear or flanks.

Jaune however was already moving down the hill with Ren and Pyrrha as Nora fired twice with Magnhild. Two streaks of pink zoomed overhead before landing near the disabled Predator. The twin pink explosions killed one Ursa outright before knocking the other one aside.

The other two Ursa Minors were protected by the tank itself which had shielded them from the explosions soon came over the tank to start moving up the hill with the third one following shortly behind after getting up.

Jaune didn't even get a chance to raise his shield as Ruby came zooming past him, taking the lead Ursa by surprise when she hooked Crescent Rose under its chin before taking its head off by sheer momentum.

Ren was the second to respond, firing StormFlower at the second one but the Ursa merely covered its face with one large arm. Only to lower it down to find Ren had jumped up as well landing down on it.

With his feet on either side of its shoulders he stabbed down with both of his pistols into the Ursa Minors eyes before back flipping away as it roared in pain for swiping back and forth blindly.

The magenta eyed teen waited a second before dashing back in ducking under the first then rolling forward inside the reach of the other arm before spinning in a clockwise motion cutting once across the chest that left a deep furrow across the chest before the second strike disemboweled it.

Finally the third one was crippled by the Assault Stubbers and Jaune continued running down to the tank. As he closed in on it he could see how badly it had been damaged.

There were a number of large dents that he could see; some of them pierced the armored skirts cracking two of the road wheels along with breaking the track. Other dents were just as devastating as he could see some of the dents were in fact punctures even the barrel had been rendered inoperable as it was bent upward.

"Hello!" He called out.

"Who's there?" A voice called out after a few seconds.

"Jaune Arc! We're here to help!"

"Arc? Like High Lord Arc?" The voice called back and Jaune rolled his eyes.

"Jaune, hurry up there's more Grimm coming." Ren called out as he fired a burst from both of his pistols adding to the growing staccato fire of Sgèin's and Martin's squads up on the hill.

"Just get out of there, it's not safe." Jaune said and after a few moments the hatch at the top of the Predator.

A man in a grey uniform with a First Lieutenant sigil on his right sleeve appeared; he looked haggard and tired with what Jaune knew to be blood stains that made parts of his uniform seem darker than it should it. Behind him three other people came out just as haggard but all four of them were armed with carbines versions of the Agripinaa Infantry Rifle, with the First Lieutenant armed with a handgun and Messer.

"Not safe he says, mother fucker it's not safe out here." One of the crew members said a woman as she took off her helmet revealing short black hair and a pair of dog ears.

"That's enough, grab what you need and let's move." The First Lieutenant snapped and the woman had the sense to look abashed as they jumped down.

"Sorry about that Sir, we've been stuck in there for the better part of a day so they're a little testy at the moment." The man said and Jaune nodded as he figured it had to do with the blood plus the fact he knew that they were missing a crew member.

"It's fine, just get your crew up that hill there are two squads of soldiers there that you can attach yourself to for now." Jaune said around him the fighting was dying down as the Beacon students beat off another attack from the Grimm.

As they made their way back up the hill under the cover fire of the Arcadian soldiers Jaune looked over the battlefield, now that he took a second look he could see how close the fighting actually was.

While the Grimm delivered tremendous blows to the Outpost while getting in close enough that they could reach the top of the walls before getting killed.

The Arcadian defenders however had also held out long enough that their firepower had taken a heavy toll that the amount of Grimm attacking versus the amount of dead was vastly different. That being said, the fight could still go either way.

"We've in a prime position to attack from, the Grimm are focused on the Outpost and seem to have exhausted their numbers for the time being. With skill, coordination and some luck we might be able to crush them against the walls of the Outpost." Martin said as the Jaune and the other rejoined them at the top of the hill.

"Or we can draw their attention away from the Outpost and give them some breathing room." Ruby said.

"While the hill does give us a terrain advantage there's still enough Grimm that they could easily swarm us." Sgèin pointed out.

"He's got a point Ruby, there has to be hundreds if not more than a thousand Grimm attacking that place even if we draw some away there's still a lot for them to deal with." Pyrrha said.

"Clear!" Someone shouted nearby and there was a loud thump as a soldier fired something called an Accatran Rocket Launcher. In the distance three Ursa Minors died as the rocket hit amongst them as they were tightly packed together definitely killing two while wounding the third.

"Sergeant!" Another soldier called out, the same Vox-Operator as before came running up to Martin with the Vox-Caster's handset being held out for her to take and she did after slinging her rifle over her shoulder.

"5-3 here read you loud and clear Captain. We're on a hill to the south of the Outpost's western clearing.

"Standby 1-1." Martin said before looking at Sgèin.

"The Captain wants our coordinates." She said and he took out his own copy of his map and listed it out for her which she relayed.

"Wilco, 5-3 out." Martin said before handing the handset back to the soldier.

"Alright, we've got our new orders." She said turning to face everyone again.

"We're to hold position here for the time being."

"Why?" Ruby asked instantly.

"We're not a significant force even with the eight of you besides which Air Command has reported in saying they won the aerial fight in the north and are dispatching three Avenger Flights to us."

"So we do nothing?" Ruby asked and Jaune shook his head.

"No, I assume we're gonna just hold this hill probably because the Captain wants us to keep as much of the Grimm pinned into the western clearing. It's much easier to hit them in one group than many scattered groups." Jaune said looking at Martin who nodded to confirm his thoughts.

"And don't forget that 4th Platoon is to the north of us probably has the same orders so just sit tight and kill anything that comes to us." Sgèin said as he looked at everyone, none of them voiced any protest if they had any so he nodded his helmed head and back to the soldiers.

"Well, you heard them let's pick spots and wait." Jaune said and began to turn away.

"Wait a minute." Ruby interrupted and he sighed as he looked back around at her.

"We still don't know where Ms. Aster is." They young girl said and Yang put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder.

"Ah come on Ruby, she's a professional, so she's probably fine."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Fusia slumped against a tree taking deep breathes, before her the last Death Stalker twitched a little and each time she saw one of the legs move her heart stopped in fear.

Though she immediately clamped down on that feeling, she had gotten separated from the others after running into a trio of Death Stalkers with at least several dozen of Beowolves and Ursai. How they didn't notice her fighting was far beyond what she felt like thinking about at the moment,

More importantly she was who knows how far from the Outpost but she knew that the fighting had pushed her further south than she wanted. She needed to move however her body protested at the movement and she knew that her Aura was all but gone.

She had been slammed three times by one of the pincers after getting knocked down to the ground and prior to that thrown through a rather thick Spruce tree.

As she sat there collecting her breath she couldn't help but remember that during the fight most of the smaller Grimm seemed to have vanished. She wasn't sure why but for some reason it felt as if it just happened to them all at once, as if they had the same thought to leave her to fight the Death Stalkers alone.

She didn't understand why but was still a little grateful for it as she had some doubts that she would have been able to beat not only the Death Stalkers but a hundred Grimm as well.

Though she assumed that they had to be going north which might mean they could hit the students in their flank or rear if they turned to hit the Grimm assaulting the Outpost from behind. She had tried the laryngophone but she didn't know if it was in range or broken as no one seemed to respond to her.

Taking a deep breathe she began to get up only, to stop when she hear movement nearby. She stopped to listen but founding that it wasn't the sound of creatures but of men as she could hear the sound of metal clinking and people singing or maybe humming together.

As she stepped out from her tree she was greeted with a sight that she wasn't prepared for. In front of her seemed to be a large crowd of wild but strong looking men with round shields, spears, axes, and swords that wore a motley amount of fur lined leather or metal armor over bare skin.

Yet there was a significant portion of the crowd that had people in large red plate armor, each both at least a foot taller and wider than the average man. On top of that the more she looked at the plated warriors the more it felt like her head was starting to swim till she finally looked away closing her eyes as she counted to ten till she steadied herself.

When she opened her eyes however one of those large plated warriors was standing in front of her with a jagged edge halberd raised up poised to strike. Fusia took a sharp intake as she jumped to the side as the weapon came down smashing into the tree truck she had been leaning against.

The weapon knocked out a sizable chunk of the trunk spraying her in chips or fragments of the tree. Not wasting anytime she pulled her weapon out from its holster and fired in one swift movement.

She narrowed her eyes as her shot sparked off the warrior's breast plate, the halberd came up and she stepped back avoiding it again.

A clink of metal was the only warning she had as a flanged mace struck her left arm from behind and she went sideways to the ground before rolling to her feet again.

Spinning around she lashed out with her whip, the metal cord wrapped around the flanged mace of the second armored warrior. With a click of her thumb however electricity sparked down the length till it reached the mace.

The warrior jerked violently but was unable to let go of the mace then Fusia pulled hard on the whip sending the twitching warrior to the ground. The first warrior came at her with surprising speed and she ducked under the first swipe from the halberd before spinning to her right to avoid the follow up strike.

She raised her shotgun and fired hitting his chest plate again before spinning it one handed working the lever action then firing at his helmet. The warrior jerked back from her strike and Fusia knew she killed him as blood fountained from the crumpled faceplate of the helmet.

Looking around she could see more armor plated warriors surround her; these ones however wielded large shields along with their swords, axes or maces. She fired at one and the dust round cracked off the shields though it looked like it left a dent the size of a golf ball in it.

She needed to get out of there so she tucked her whip away before readying herself then charged forward firing her shotgun to keep their shields up before leaping forward. Her free hand grabbed the top of a shield as she hoisted herself over it and the warrior holding it.

However she wasn't expecting to see a second line of warriors, several of them were holding heavy looking short spears which they raised up. She cursed as they threw them at her just as she took hold of her whip again then lashed out twice with it knocking away two spears before rolling out of the way of the others.

Glancing to the side she could see that some of the spears had hit some of the warriors in the first line. She didn't stay long enough to see if any of them were dead as she started to run in the direction she believed was north.

Behind her she could hear a strange sound, almost like a tight string being release and the next thing she knew an arrow past over her shoulder hitting the tree in front of her. As she ran by it she could see that the arrow was so deep into the tree that the fletching was nearly touching the tree trunk.

A second later, something painful struck her square in the back and she fell forward before rolling to her feet before taking a sharp turn as two more arrows flew through the air where she had been. Yet now she had more armored warriors in front of her so she took a sharp left jumping over a fallen tree then started to climb up a hill.

The breath in her lungs was starting to burn now as she could hear loud guttural shouting of what she assumed was their language as they went after her.

As she crested the hill she was relieved to see that she wasn't that far from the Outpost. She could see the flashes of explosions as in the air above it multiple planes were zooming towards the ground firing whatever weapons they had before they climbed away.

She spun around as she heard something coming up from behind her, time seemed to slow down as her mind or all five senses struggle to comprehend what was coming at her.

The one on her right was a mass of muscle or flesh with various human limbs jutting out from the bottom like a centipede with several large tentacles on top or the sides covered in human teeth and fangs of beasts. A single black eye was situated in the center of its bloated mass.

On her left was something like a beast, a beastly head with a mouth of razor sharp teeth and two mad eyes adorned with a single large horn jutting out from the center of its head.

There were two large curved ebony bones on either side which she suspected was for goring anything in its path with its body like a skinless mass of muscle and tendon with strips of rusted looking plates that were growing out of it.

The last one was biggest; easily six meters tall, it looked both inhuman and human at the same time. As this one was on two legs that at first glance looked human save for the inverted knee joints and ridiculous mass of muscle.

It had an enlarged torso of muscle with skulls that seemed to be growing out of it. Though what disturbed her the most was the fact this skulls still had moving eyes and were in the state of open mouths as if they were screaming.

Its arms were grotesque muscular imitations of a man with the left one ended what seemed to be a blade with sharp looking canine teeth as an edge. The other arm end in a three claws with lastly its head for the most part being mostly smooth bone except for its mouth which opened in a vertical slit of human teeth layered on the inside.

She did the only thing that would come to mind, she fired her shotgun. There was a gush of blood as the dust round struck the lead monstrosity in the chest it gave an all too human scream of pain or roar of angry. She couldn't tell which as it seemed as if multiple people were making those sounds.

The bestial creature roared as it came at her and Fusia jumped over it slinging her whip down to catch onto what she believed was the tusk before pulling herself down onto it's back. It roared in angry before rearing up on its hind legs and she fought to keep her foot.

Behind her three tentacles from the grotesque monster lashed out at her and she fired keeping two away but the third wrapped around her leg. It yanked hard on her leg and she gasped in pain as she fought to keep her grip on her whip but the longer she held it on the more it felt as if her leg was going to rip off.

So she let go of her whip and as she fell away she fired once more into the tentacle that was wrapped around her leg. Blood fountained from the gunshot as it ripped through it splattering her leg in it and as soon as it came into contact she realized that it wasn't normal blood as a burning sensation crawled up her leg.

As she fell to the ground she immediately rolled away as the same tentacle slammed down after her. Getting to her feet she spun the shotgun in one hand before firing it again this time at the main body of the tentacle creature.

More blood squirted out but she jumped aside only to feel something slam into her back and she was propelled forward only to smash into a tree. Her chest hurt and she found it difficult to breathe as she looked over her shoulder then jumped back as the largest monster swung its clawed hand down.

The tree trunk exploded as the monster's clawed hand ripped through it effortlessly. A second later the bestial monster's horn struck her in the side and Fusia was launched a dozen feet back and rolled a few more feet before slamming into a rock.

She struggled to get up and looked down to see her Aura flickering across her body before disappearing. Her blood ran cold as she knew that it meant that it was spent. Looking up she could see the three monsters arrayed before her and she realized that she was dead so she closed her eyes waiting the inevitable.

Yet it never came so she opened her eyes to see that she was surrounded by the red armored warriors from before however there was a different one standing in above her on the rock she had hit. Every instinct in her body screamed at her saying that he was dangerous.

"Take her." A voice, one that she realized came from the warrior above her, said.

Fear gripped her heart as metal gauntlets grabbed her, she heaved and struggled while screaming but she was unable to shake them all off as she was dragged back down the hill.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Jaune watched as the Avengers zoomed down again strafing the clearing and surrounding forest. Thankfully Martin had ignited a green smoke canister to indicate that they were friendly as the Avengers strafed the trees behind their hill.

Though that didn't stop some of the Grimm trying to attack them but team RWBY and his own team took the brunt of the attack. Excluding Fusia who was still missing Jaune thought it was a miracle that no one was injured or killed yet.

As he looked at the smoldering wreck of the Outpost's west wall, he realized that their good luck was in the minority in this situation.

Overhead the Avengers moved along strafing further and further out into the forest. The soldiers around him started to get up so he did as well.

"What's going on?" Ren asked as he appeared next to Jaune.

"I'd reckon we've got out new orders." As if on cue Martin's voice came through their ear pieces.

"Form up by squads and move out." She said so Jaune collapsed his shield before returning it to his belt thought he kept the sword out just in case as the group moved down the hill.

The clearing had been torn asunder by the relentless firepower of both the Outpost and Avengers. There was very little of the ground that was still even, as holes and ditches had formed from the multiple detonations of high explosive munitions.

In those holes and ditches they could see the mangled forms of the attacking Grimm. While the strafing runs of the Avengers had eliminated a great deal of bodies which subsequently cleared the air. There was still a small dark fog in the area and Jaune found it difficult to see in some places where the slowly dissolving bodies of Grimm were the thickest.

After what seemed like forever they ran into the fourth platoon led by a Faunus woman by the name of Trita Shimman. Her platoon looked much more haggard than their own, Jaune could hear a collective gasp from his friends when they saw that a number of soldiers were carrying or helping wounded comrades.

"How many did you lose?" Sgèin asked, though he kept his helmet on supposedly the sheer concentration of the black miasma made people without their Aura unlocked sick, as the two platoons closed in on each other. Jaune was close enough so he pretended to look away as he listened.

"Six dead and twelve wounded, though I reckon it's going to be eight dead. Cicedu and Vello are in pretty bad shape. What about you Sgèin?" The woman asked through her own helmet, which made her voice sound a little distorted.

"We got lucky, aside from one missing we've got no injured or dead and even managed to pick up a tank crew."

"I ain't surprised that the High Lord's son is good in a scrap but what about those other kids." The Lieutenant asked.

"Honestly from what I've seen, it feels like the High Lord's son is probably the weakest amongst them." Sgèin said and Jaune winced a little at the brutal honesty as Shimman whistled.

"Damn but I guess that's to be expected; even his sister was giving proper training before she left the Kingdom but you also said you were missing someone, who is it?"

"It's the professional Huntress that came with them; we don't know where she is."

"The Captain isn't going to like that."

"Yea well, we had other problems at the time to deal with."

"Speaking of problems, we need to get inside before it gets dark." Shimman said and the two parted.

"Alright, fourth squad takes points; second and third focus on the wounded while first takes the rear." Shimman called out as Sgèin and Martin gathered their platoon.

"We'll take the sides, Jaune's team and Martin have the left flank and Ruby your team will be with us on the right remember to watch your surroundings." Sgèin said as the tank crew went to assist with carrying the wounded soldiers.

"Uh, Sergeant, what's with this precaution? The area is clear of Grimm." Pyrrha asked.

"Sort of, we know that they aren't attacking but there's a chance that not all the bodies here are actually dead some of the smarter Grimm may have used the bodies of the slain to conceal themselves."

"Why would they do that?" Weiss asked.

"Obviously so they can ambush us, failing that they use them to hide so they can live. Though that thought only occurs to those that are smart enough to do so." Martin explained.

"That's enough; we need to get going Martin." Sgèin said and the group split up. Pyrrha walked behind Jaune as they traversed the broken ground. Off to the far north and west they could hear the soft thunder of what they now figured to be fighting.

Pyrrha couldn't help but note the piles of mangled corpses of Grimm whenever they passed by a crater or ditch. Remembering what the others had said she kept Miló and Akoúo in hand. She couldn't help but feel a sense of unease and urgency.

One part due to the battlefield they were in and the other part in regard to the injured that they trying to get back to the Outpost.

Speaking of which she could see just how damaged it was as they came reached less than a hundred feet from the walls. Everywhere she looked she could see chunks of wood ripped out or frayed with claw marks covering almost the entire surface.

High above the walls black smoke billowed out from the now smoldering towers that had been damaged in the fighting. However the more she focused the more she swore she could hear people yelling or crying out on the inside, looking around she couldn't see the faces of the soldiers but she could tell by their body language that they were tensing up in anticipation.

After what seemed like forever they found themselves outside a gate on the east side with the surrounding walls relatively intact in comparison to the western wall.

The gate swung inwards and the groups walked inside, the scent of something metallic hit Pyrrha's nose like a sucker punch. But it wasn't like most metallic sensations that she was used to but it was something that she still recognized.

"Blood." She whispered and in the corner of her vision she could see Jaune, Nora and Ren glance at her.

On either side they could see soldiers sitting around small fires in front a row of wood lodges, most of them had their helmets or parts of their upper armor off. They all looked exhausted with more than a few staring off into some unknown distance.

As they walked past them they came to a small clearing around the tallest structure within the walls. There they could see tents had been set up and it was here that they saw a sight that they would never forget for as long as they live.

Under those tents were the dead or dying, men and women in grey overalls with white aprons that worked diligently to save as many people as they could. Each one had so much blood on them it was easier to believe that someone had just tossed a bucket of red paint on each of them.

A dozen of these people came out from the tents towards them, stripped down to undershirts and trousers. Pyrrha watched as they shouted out things as they checked the wounded that the soldiers had been carrying, of the twelve only eight were taken.

"Wait, what about the others?" Ruby asked as the soldiers around them started to walk away, the four people that hadn't been taken were carried away.

"It's best if you pay them no heed, now come with me." Martin said after a moment and their platoon followed Shimman's platoon.

When they finally reached the edge of the field hospital Pyrrha could see another group of soldiers huddled next to the southern wall where dozens of Chimeras had been parked. Though she did find it was kind of strange to not hear the armored transports not rumbling loudly.

"We'll take our break here. Jaune, Ruby, make sure your teams get food in their bellies and check your equipment before getting some rest." Martin said.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ruby asked and Martin jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Sgèin.

"Gonna have to go tell the Captain that we're missing Fusia." She said and Jaune grimaced at that as the two sergeants left them.

"That's right; we need to go find Fusia." Ruby said softly and Jaune glanced at her.

"I wouldn't do anything rash Ruby, there's still probably a lot of Grimm out there besides we don't know where she is."

"Come on Jaune, she's one of us, if she's lost it's our duty to find her."

"Ruby our duty is to hold this Outpost, I know that, you know that and Fusia knows that. Abandoning the mission to look for her wouldn't help that."

"Jaune you can't be serious." He rounded on her but the young girl stood her ground looking at him.

"I'm very serious Ruby can't you see how many people are dead or dying here already?"

"Fine then, we'll go look for her and you stay here to help defend the Outpost." Ruby said calmly and Jaune shook his head.

"You don't know the terrain like them and they're not going to give you a guide to go running around the southern forest looking for Fusia." Ruby just shook her head as she walked back to her team. Over the next thirty minutes Jaune found a spot sit and watched as the soldiers checked their weapons, armor or ate some food out of vacuum sealed rations.

There were also moments when he could hear Valkyries outside the Outpost and after asking some of the other soldiers about it they told him that they were dropping off supplies since the Outpost was nearly empty of munitions.

The moans and crying of the injured also started to die down but even still he had a hard time shutting them out. Pyrrha who had taken a seat next to him shut her eyes as she turned her head towards him and he felt terrible at seeing the anguish on her face.

Nora and Ren weren't doing so much better the two teens looked rather pale. When Jaune looked around for Ruby and her team he couldn't find them all he could see were soldiers.

"Uh oh." Jaune said and the others looked at him.

"What?" Pyrrha asked

"They're gone."

"Who's gone?"

"Team RWBY."

"I'm sure they just went to go look around the Outpost."

"I would be inclined to believe that if Ruby hadn't suggested that they go looking for Fusia out in the forests." Pyrrha seemed to think a moment before replying.

"Oh."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Team RWBY moved through the trees with grace, Ruby did feel a little bad at leaving behind Jaune and the others but she knew that they would have stopped them from looking for Fusia.

However Jaune was right that there were still quite a few Grimm left in the forests even after the Arcadians strafed with forests. Twice they had run into smalls groups of Grimm which they swiftly eliminated but the sheer amount was surprising after the defeat they suffered at the Outpost earlier.

She shook her head clear of those thoughts as she jumped over a rock and nearly slipped on the ground when she saw Blake signaling for her to stop.

The team's organization for moving had been Blake at the front as she had the necessary speed, maneuverability, and eyesight to spot things first.

While Ruby came second with her speed and reaction timing with Weiss coming in third since she was slower but had much better control at moving through the trees than Yang who brought up the rear.

"What is it?" Ruby asked as she crouched down next to their Faunus teammate as they hid behind a rock cluster.

"Movement, four hundred feet ahead of us, I'm not really sure what or who they are but they're coming this way." Blake said softly and Ruby stood up to look over the rock. She could see a line of shadowy figures, at first she thought they were Grimm but after a moment she realized that they were people. Admittedly dressed in strange clothes and armor but people nonetheless.

"Do you think they're Arcadians?" Blake asked as Ruby crouched down again.

"I'm not sure, they look, odd."

"Why are we stopped?" Weiss called out as she appeared now from behind a set of trees and Ruby beckoned her over with a wave of her hand.

The white hair girl crouched as she ran forward; the normally pristine girl was a little sweaty now. Ruby remembered how she was out of breath during their Beowolf encounter in the Emerald Forest, maybe she should come up with a cardio regime for the two of them to work on together.

"They're getting closer, what do we do?" Blake asked and Ruby realized she was looking at her.

"We should stay out of sight." Weiss said.

"Maybe but they could see Outlanders, I remember Jaune telling me how Outlanders were fleeing north from because the Grimm were attacking villages and towns so maybe they're refugees." Ruby said.

"I don't know about that Ruby, they're all relatively well armed and armored plus they look rather, abrasive." Weiss said as she looked over at that point Yang joined them as well.

"What are we looking at?" She asked casually as she strolled up to them and Weiss pointed in the direction of the oncoming mass. Yang peered out and Ruby could see after a few moments of looking her curious expression turned sour before turning into rage before she crouched down.

"We need to move." She said and the three girls looked at her at the sudden seriousness in her voice.

"Yang?"

"They're bandits or marauders." Yang said as she active Ember Celica and Blake frowned but she pulled out Gambol Shroud as well.

"How do you know?" She asked, Yang looked at them and they could all see that her eyes had changed colors.

"Look again, to our 1 o'clock, there's something you have to see." The three girls stood up to see what was in that direction. What they saw was something that made each one of want to vomit.

A few hundred feet away, six of men were pulling a cart of sorts along behind them was a familiar person that was strung up on a wooden eight star symbol.

"It can't be." Blake whispered as it became clear that the person strung up was Fusia Aster. The Huntress was tied by arms and legs with her head down.

Her hair obscured her face but it was clear that she wasn't at alive at how loosely her head moved as the cart wobbled on the uneven ground. Though the more telling sign was the fact that her torso had been mutilated with her ribs broken open and her entrails hung loosely from her body or on the limbs of the star symbol.

It was at that moment that Blake picked up another sound, at first she wasn't sure what it was as it seemed like a low rumble but as the oncoming mass came closer she realized that they were humming. She didn't understand what they were humming about but the more she tried to listen the more her head felt fuzzy.

As the sound rose Blake screwed her eyes shut as she tried to shut the sound out, yet it continued to grow louder and louder. She became aware that her heart was beating so loud that it along with the humming was all she could hear.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder and started to shake her but she didn't hear them as she just focused on the sound. Then there was a voice, she wasn't sure whose voice it was but it started as a whisper the words were indistinct but she knew it was talking to her. She rose up breaking out of the grip of whoever had a hand on her.

The voice shifted from one to two then to four then began to grow almost like a chorus of voices. She looked out to the trees and noticed something in the corner of her vision just enough to get noticed but not enough to be seen clearly.

At that moment something hit her cheek and she took a deep breath as if she just surfaced from underwater. Blinking rapidly she looked around to see Yang grabbing her shoulder with her right hand stretched back to slap her again.

"What was that for?" She asked and she could see Ruby swallow as if she was startled by something.

"Blake, are you okay?" She asked and Blake frowned.

"Of course I am." She said but Yang shook her head.

"Trust us when we say it didn't look like that."

"What like what?"

"Blake your eyes kind of just glazed over like you weren't really there." Ruby said.

"What?"

"It looked like you were in a trance." Weiss explained.

"I was?"

"Huh, I guess I was." She said aloud in a matter of fact tone after thinking about it for a moment then Weiss cleared her throat.

"There's something else." Weiss added and Blake looked at her.

"You were humming." At that moment the four of them realized that the humming had died down. Yang was the first to react by spinning around.

On the other side of the rock she could see several of the large armored warriors. Their armor had a rusted red look while being adorned with spikes, horned helmets, with intricate carvings on the armor with large square shields and various large weapons that they held in one hand.

She yelled as she swung twice, the movement trigger both gauntlets which fired red dust based shotgun shells.

Two of the warriors brought their shields up and didn't even staggered back from the force. Yang narrowed her eyes as she could see that the shield had points that glowed a soft red where the shells hit but didn't look close to being breeched.

She charged forward slamming a fist at the closer of the two; she gritted her teeth a little as she put a dent right in the center of the shield that sent stress fractures up and down the shield. While at the same time feeling a sharp pang that traveled up her own arm.

In the corner of her eye she saw the other warrior swinging down at her so she twisted her body and swung up hitting the sword arm halfway down. The vambrace crumbled a little and a part of her mind realized something very important but she lost that thought as the warrior slammed his shield into her with a grunt.

As Yang jumped back the first one stabbed at her and she twisted aside again then sent a left hook that took the man in the side of the head. Yang felt something wet hit her cheek as he fell away from her but she ignored it as she charged the other warrior.

When she was close to him again this time the warrior changed tactics as he pushed to meet her, she slammed her right fist forward expecting to send him back but instead he angle his shield to the side letting her fist slid off the shield.

As Yang stepped past him she stopped and sent a back kick at where she figured he'd be while she was right her kick didn't land as he battered her leg aside but she used that momentum to spin quickly around to see that she had an open shot at his chest.

Her fist hammered in leaving a relatively small dent that left a noticeable horizontal crack in the plate roughly the size of her fist. The warrior dropped to one knee and turned his horned helm to her Yang was surprised that she couldn't actually see his face.

Yet she didn't let that stop her from hammering another fist into the face plate and finally realized what she had done. The helmet along with the head inside crumpled under the impact of her strike and the warrior fell limply onto the ground.

As she stared in shock at her fallen foes, Weiss had already leapt up using a glyph before launching herself down at one of the warriors but as the warrior raised his shield to block she had already summoned another glyph to use a platform to jump over him.

As she landed up the ground behind him she stabbed downward with Myrtenaster to form a large shard of ice that struck the warrior from behind. Then she stood up and summoned more ice glyphs before pelting the other warriors behind him with shards of ice that drove them back.

Ruby sliced at a pair of warriors as well, her weapon giving her all the reach she needed to keep them at bay which was all she could do. As despite her obviously more advanced weapon she would have figured it would have given her the advantage but they blocked her strikes with relative ease.

However the two warriors began to push together towards her. Ruby had to backpedal constantly keeping them at an optimal range as she had the feeling that being too close would go poorly for her.

As one parried her scythe she spun it around quickly hammering the backside into his knee which made an oddly satisfying crunch of what she assumed was metal. Before spinning around slam the back end into the side of his helmet.

She then jumped up with the help of her semblance and Crescent Rose in order to avoid the low sweep of the second armored warrior.

In the moment she hung in the air she quickly aimed Crescent Rose down at him and fired. She first hit his pauldron which jerked him to side before firing two more times the second hit the gorget which sent him to his knees while the final shot hit the back of his head sending him to the ground completely.

Blake on the other hand took her frustration and confusion from earlier out on the two armored warriors. As she evade a counter thrust to sneak a quick slash under the guard of one of them that only left a long furrow across his plate, she had to admit they weren't half bad their sword and shield work was far above Jaunes.

Though to be fair he was the only real sword and shield person she could think of, as her old partner didn't fit the role while Pyrrha was a mixed bag of skills.

"We need to fall back!" Ruby called out from the side and Blake looked around to see that they were getting surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of armored warriors.

"Go!" Yang called out as she turned to run. Weiss readied her weapon before summoning a large ice wall that spread out in a semicircle from her as the others run.

As she turned around however she saw what had happened to the person she had struck earlier, he was impaled on the end of her ice shard with blood trailing down the sides of the ice staining it.

Her head began to swim as she stumbled past the rock, behind her she was vaguely aware that these strangers were coming after her. However she was able to steady herself long enough to summon a glyph then began to move after the others gaining distance between her and the mess that they had left behind.

Behind them the warriors surrounded their fallen, walking up to the scene the Sorcerer Lord was flanked by two of his Lieutenants; he looked upon the corpses then up at the ice wall and laughed softly.

"What does this mean?" Ghemzetts asked by his side. The taller red plated warrior was seething with anger, though whether it was based on the fact his men had lost or died at the hands of what seemed to be a fellow sorcerer he was not sure.

"It means that the Winds do blow here." He replied and the third warrior nodded as he inspected the body of a warrior whose helmet had been smashed flat with the head inside nothing but pulp.

"I saw them fight my lord, there were four of them, each wielding unique weapons and fighting in peculiar manners that I dare say it suggests an indirect if not just an unaware connection to the Pantheon." Blaokrazyx said and the sorcerer frowned inside his helm. Of the two with him he did not trust him of the two as he was far smarter than he let on while also being very observant.

"So what is it that you're suggesting?" He asked evenly.

"I believe that some of these people can, perhaps, be swayed to recognize their folly in fighting us."

"That may have some merit that we may investigate later on but for that is out of our reach." He said and Blaokrazyx looked puzzled.

"Can you not smell that fear in the air?" He asked and Blaokrazyx shook his head.

"Emotions have power just as names or truths though here they hold a much greater weight than what we've experienced as here there are creatures that hunt using them for in this world those emotions have shaped it to a certain extent."

"What does that mean for us then?" He asked and the Sorcerer sighed contentedly before turning to look out at the assembled warriors that waited for his orders.

"Fear is a powerful emotion as it is the one that drives men to the madness of self-preservation that cannot be reasoned, they'll fight to their dying breath or seek out power to control life or even cheat death. As such we cannot show them the truth." He smiled inside his helmet as the anticipation began to build.

"Instead we shall show them the error of their ways with blood and death!" He called out and the forest rang with the calls for war.

* * *

 **"I guess I should post this chapter up, I wonder what's the last day I updated the story?"**

 ***Last update 11/23/2018***

 **"Hmm and what's today's date?"**

 ***Checks***

 _ **Fuck...**_

 **Oh boy, it's been a while, what's worse is the fact I've been sitting on this chapter for a better part of six weeks I just got distracted because of the fact I've finally transfered into a University but don't worry I swear I'll get the next chapter out soon (I hope)**

 **Anyways go ahead and leave a review about what you think about the chapter, was there anything you liked, disliked, curious about, or if you want you can just berate me for taking so long to post the chapter.**

 **Till Next time!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Jaune stood next to the doorway of the South Valley Keep, there he watched as men and women chattered on Vox-casters or to each other. Some of it was to report about the results of the fighting that took place further north or to relay the reported positions of minor groups of Grimm or the supply convoys or drops.

Since arriving he learned a few things after listening to the noise of the room, apparently the two reserve Companies had been deployed already. Apparently the Central Valley Outpost had its walls breeched by the Grimm with nearly a third of the defenders getting killed in the close quarters combat.

Along with that additional reinforcements from the 1st and 2nd Battalion were coming in via Valkyries to escort the supply convoys that were heading their way.

At the same time Jaune got the impression that they were surprised at the Grimm attack. Not because of how close they cut it but more so that they managed to keep them out at all which Jaune had to agree.

From what he remember about the late night meeting with Kagiris and Meidner there was supposed to be a lot of Grimm attacking. More than any in recent memory for the Hurin Valleys, yet two out of three Outposts managed to hold them off for the most part.

Sure he could chalk it up to the overwhelming firepower that the 13th Brigade was able to bring down on them in a sort amount of time. As he remembered the blasts that rattled his insides as they ripped apart the field filled with Grimm that were assaulting the western wall of the Outpost.

Even then in comparison to the other two Outposts they were only given a small amount of support. With a few Avengers they had broken the siege here while to their north more Avengers and Corsair Flights were assisting them for almost the entire battle.

Though they would all have to return soon as they would no doubt need to refuel and rearm at some point. Upon which Jaune felt would be the most dangerous time for a second wave as then it would all be down to the soldiers on the ground.

To him that probably would explain why he heard that the northern Flights of Avengers and Corsairs were so vehemently pursuing the Grimm despite having beaten them back from the vicinity of the Outposts.

"So what's this about Sgèin and Martin telling me that you're now missing both the Huntress and a team?" A voice said and Jaune jumped a little as he looked to see an annoyed but tired Madeg.

"Well sir, we lost contact with Fusia in the forest south of the Outpost and against my advice team RWBY went out to look for her." The young captain sighed as he ran a hand over his head; he seemed to have aged at least five years since Jaune had last seen him. Though he supposed combat and the responsibility of a commander would stress most people out.

"Alright then, how long has it been since you noticed that they were gone?"

"About thirty minutes sir but at first we double checked to see if they weren't in fact in the Outpost before coming to you."

"Well you should have come to me first." Madeg snapped and Jaune wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Look, when I've got a platoon with almost a third of its personnel missing I want to know as soon as possible."

"Yes sir." Jaune said and Madeg sighed before putting a hand on his shoulder.

"In any case you should go get out of here, we don't know if the Creatures of Grimm are going to be back so now is the time to get some rest."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well we've managed to break the first attack but when the Air Force started to harass the Grimm they went north and Army Command believes that the Grimm are instead trying to go north to circumvent our forces here in the valley after forcing us to put a heavy deployment here."

"Really?" Jaune asked surprised to hear that, from all the reports Areto made him read about past battles and campaigns against the Creatures of Grimm they normally struck as hard as they could. No finesse or thought in their actions just brute strength and numbers.

"Yea, Command is formulating a projected line of advance of the Grimm horde through the northern mountains though they don't have any idea what their target other than getting around us is."

"Do you think they'll get through?" Jaune asked and Madeg chuckled.

"I think the Air Force is gonna gather its strength then pick a spot to drop enough ordnance to flatten a mountain on them. So no, I don't think we'll have to worry about the bulk of this Grimm horde anymore." He explained and Jaune nodded slowly.

"So it's over then?" Madeg shook his head.

"No, there are bound to be stragglers that could still be a viable threat if they reach the western mountains of Nodens."

"I guess that makes sense." At that moment Nora came through the door and grabbed Jaune's arm.

"Jaune!" She said and he exchanged looks with the slightly amused Madeg.

"Nora? Why are you here?" Jaune asked.

"Ren and Pyrrha sent me." She said and Jaune tapped his laryngophone.

"You realize that you guys could have just reached me on this." Nora flushed and Jaune raised a hand to calm her.

"Okay, okay, what is it?"

"Team RWBY returned."

* * *

 **A few moments later…**

Jaune, Madeg and Nora reached the east gate of the Outpost. Soldiers were milling around as they watched the team stumble inside the perimeter.

Getting a closer look Jaune could see that the four girls all looked shaken as they made their way over to a bench that a soldier gestured for them to use.

"You're all back." Jaune called out as he walked up to them and stopped abruptly as Yang gave him a hallow stare.

"Yea." She said evenly before looking at her fists and Jaune noticed something on her cheek. An all too familiar color and he knelt before her.

"Yang." He said softly but the blonde girl didn't react at first.

"What happened out there?" Jaune asked looking at the other three girls.

"There are people out there to the south." Ruby finally said as she stood up from the bench.

"People?" Madeg asked from behind Jaune.

"Oh! Captain Madeg, I didn't see you there." Ruby said putting on a fake smile.

"Cut the crap Ms. Rose and tell me what happened out there. Who did you see?" He asked and the smile fell away from Ruby's face.

"We found Ms. Aster." She said and her face scrunched up.

"She's dead." Blake cut in as she looked up as well.

"We came across a large group of men in full plate armor much like your Praetorians to the south of the Outpost. They had her strung up on some wooden star; they gutted her as if she was some fish." This sent a murmur throughout the crowd of soldiers that were nearby to hear them and Pyrrha who was standing to the side watching the exchange noticed that they all looked nervous about what Blake said.

"Describe this star." Madeg said cutting off Jaune who looked like he was going to ask another question. The four girl exchanged looks before Blake spoke up.

"It was a large circular object with eight arrows that was held up from behind on a makeshift cart. The people seemed to be humming together as well, it was strange." The cat Faunus said.

"Yea even Blake fell into some weird trance and began to hum before we snapped her out of it." Weiss said and Madeg stood up at that as he rubbed his chin.

"This can't be happening." He said softly and Jaune frowned.

"What is it Captain?" He asked.

"Fuck!" Madeg shouted instead of answering him then turned abruptly away before running back to the Keep.

"I knew it; I knew we shouldn't have gone out there." Weiss said as they watched the soldiers disperse.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked turning to face her partner.

"I mean, it was stupid for us to go out there Ruby. There was no point in doing what we did; all of this is just luck or really bad luck considering what we just saw."

"You seriously can't say that Weiss, we had a good reason, we needed to find Fusia." Yang said and the shorter girl's face contorted in annoyance.

"No, we didn't, we were on that hill near our destination long enough that she could have found us or contacted us but that didn't happen. The soldiers pointed out the obvious, with the number of Grimm out there if she didn't show us any signs of her being alive then she was probably dead by that point."

"We didn't know that and neither did they so we had to take the chance Weiss." Ruby said and Jaune could see the younger girl balling her fists up in anger.

"But they were right Ruby, that's the point, they were right all along."

"No they weren't those people were obviously the ones that killed her, if we had left earlier then we could have found her and helped her."

"Ruby, Weiss still has a point we didn't know where she was." Blake said and Ruby rounded on the black hair Faunus girl.

"So?"

"So!? Ruby what would you have us do? Run around the forest looking for her?" Weiss asked and Yang held up a hand as she stepped next to her sister.

"Hey now, Ruby did what she thought was right and I agree with her as long as there's a chance of rescuing them then we should never leave anyone behind or alone."

"Risking the lives of four people to save someone who we didn't even know was still alive doesn't seem brave or courageous it's reckless, no, it goes beyond reckless into the realm of stupid." Weiss said and Ruby rounded on Jaune who was just standing there hoping to be ignored.

"Do you think that I made a stupid decision?" The younger girl asked him, Jaune opened and closed his mouth as he tried to think of a tactful answer. Ruby's face seemed to grow more crestfallen the longer he didn't answer.

"I see."

"Ruby, please, it's a difficult question to just ask someone." Pyrrha chimed in as the young girl looked down.

"This isn't fair guys." Yang said.

"No it's not but it's the truth." Weiss said but they could see that she had a look of pain on her own face before she turned away.

"Look, it's been a long day but it's getting late and we need to get some rest. I reckon we'll be dealing with whoever it was that you saw out there tomorrow." Jaune said and Blake looked at him.

"Speaking of which Jaune, what can you tell us about those people?"

"Me? I haven't the faintest idea who you encountered out there."

"Wait, what do you mean you don't know? Madeg seems like he knows, even the other soldiers seemed to know who we're talking about." Yang pointed out.

"Look, there are actually a lot of things that I don't know even about Arcadia."

"That doesn't make any sense, you're like, what, a prince or something." The blond girl said and Jaune shrugged feeling a little self-conscious about the conversation.

"You already know that I was raised in the Outlands so I didn't exactly get the proper education about Arcadia as you might think I have."

"Right, so you're actually useless in giving us information." Blake said with her arms crossed so Jaune smiled and shrugged.

"Yup."

"Great."

"So, what we know is, a group of armed and armored people are heading this way and there's a high chance that they're not friendly." Weiss surmised.

"Why did we agree to on this again?"

"What's going on?" Nora asked as she joined them apparently the hammer wielder had gone off somewhere to grab a ration pack which she was eating out of and Ren just shrugged.

"Nothing good that's for sure." As if on cue, someone shouted a warning and above them a dozen bright iridescent balls of fire struck the nearest tower. The top half of wooden structure along with the Hydra Anti-Aircraft gun exploded in a ball of fire showering the area in and out of the Outpost with flaming fragments.

"I hate being right." Ren said as the others scattered, an alarm was ringing loudly and soldiers were scrambling to get their armor on.

In the corner of his eye Jaune saw three tanks rumbling loudly towards the gate, the three massive Sicaran tanks looked battered with at least several noticeable dents in their armor while the sole Predator was sitting back.

Jaune could see its crew working swiftly to get the tank working but the plume of smoke rising from behind it suggested that the tank was out of commission.

"Come on!" Pyrrha said from next to him grabbing his hand and Jaune's mind went blank as he followed his partner. She led them up a flight of stairs connected to the inside of the east wall; Nora, Ren and team RWBY along with dozens of soldiers were also on the stairs.

Overhead another bright iridescent ball came over the wall, and Jaune couldn't help but note that it sound like someone was screaming just before landing in a flash of blinding light and thunder. A wooden barrack was shattered by it and Jaune could see soldiers running around on the ground screaming as others tried to put the flames on them out.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the remaining three of the Hydra platforms were spinning around pointing their quad barrels down at the distant tree line. As Jaune and the others came up to the wooden parapet wall they saw what was coming out of the forest.

Every direction they looked they could see that people were lining the edge of the forest. In the center of their line however were a dozen large devices that looked to be like cannons with barrels glowing reddish and a strange snarling mouth that looked as if they were the glowing faces of monsters.

The longer he studied the more a strange numbness wrapped his mind before his head began to throb with a soft headache until he closed his eyes counting to ten. With the final count he could feel the pain and numbness subsiding.

Opening his eyes again he quickly looked around to see the Pyrrha and the others looking a little discomforted. In the distant there was a series of dull booms and Jaune looked to see a dozen bright balls of fire arcing through the air towards the Outpost.

"Incoming!" Someone screamed as four balls of fire hit the wall again; two struck another tower, tearing chunks out of the wood structure while leaving fires that slowly began to spread. The other two however struck near the gatehouse while the rest struck inside the Outpost sending soldiers scattering or striking the west wall from the inside.

A few moments later Jaune could see the heavy wood gates swing open and the three Sicaran Tanks rumbled out from the relative safety of the Outpost. From above the three surviving Hydra Platforms opened up.

The twelve barrels of the Hydras sent a torrent of heavy caliber shells downrange towards the tree line. Blake winced as she could see men evaporate in cloud of broken flesh, armor and blood as they were hit by the shells.

Along with them a number of the strange cannons were ripped apart before going up in strange pinkish explosions which for some reason reminded her of Nora.

"Stop! They don't have Aura!" Ruby called out turning to run towards the nearest tower but as Jaune turned to stop her it was in fact Yang who grabbed her sister before she could get out of reach.

"Ruby no, let the soldiers do their job." The older girl said but Ruby shrugged off her sister's hand and looked at her in outrage.

"How can you say that Yang, can't you see they're killing them."

"Well they killed Fusia and now are bombarding the Outpost Ruby what do you expect the soldiers to do? Ask them nicely to stop killing?" Jaune turned away as more of the screaming balls of fire soared at them but none of them were aimed at the three Sicaran Tanks which began to open fire at the tree line.

Three of the cannon shots blew apart another tower while a fourth soared over the wall, immolating four soldiers with its passing heat before falling amongst the tents of the field hospital. Jaune felt his heart twist in pain as he could see soldiers rushing to put out the flames that burned both the injured and trained medical professionals.

"What are those?!" Pyrrha called out and Jaune turned to see what she was pointing at. Coming out from the forest were three monstrosities. His mind went blank as it couldn't seem to fathom what he was looking at but one of the soldiers nearby started screaming something at the top of her voice, a word that Jaune's mind filed away.

"Neverborn!" The Sicarans Tanks which had been slowly advancing on the enemy began to reverse hard while the creatures bore down on them. The Sicaran on the right of the formation spun around its gun turret just as the creature struck it with its horn.

While he wasn't that surprised that the horned head didn't penetrate the front armor of the heavy tank, Jaune was more than a little worried at seeing the impact lifting the front half of the tank off the ground.

The second one that looked like some weird tentacle meatball seemed to have an easier time as it was able to hold the turret in place as it tried to overturn the heavy tank.

Alas it only achieved in lifting it partially up before just pushing it away but ultimately achieving the goal of incapacitating the heavy tank by preventing it from bringing its cannon to bear.

Finally the largest humanoid monster met the lead Sicaran which if Jaune recalled correctly after briefly meeting its captain was called _Lion's Pride._

The Sicaran fired almost point blank into the torso of the monster and Jaune felt the blood drain from his face. The shell had hit the creature driving it to its strange looking knees however he could see that it wasn't dead as it had yet to fall over.

In a flash the monster moved forward, Jaune could see that it grabbed that end of the Sicaran barrel and bent it almost effortlessly. With the main gun rendered useless the coaxial hammered at it but Jaune could see it was having no effect as it began to rip at the tank.

Unlike the previous two monsters, it was able to breech the Sicaran's armor while the other two effectively pinned their tanks down. Beyond them seven cannons opened up again and the seven bright cannon shots soared towards the east wall.

One of these cannon shots hit a Hydra directly which ripped apart the top half of the tower it was on while the others missed the last tower and hit the wall to either side of it.

As the Hydra opened up again hammering the distant cannons Jaune could feel a sudden shift in the floor as their portion of the wall was now significantly weakened.

"Help the soldiers off the wall, it's gonna collapse at this rate." Jaune said looking at Ren and Nora who nodded before running down the southern length to help a few soldiers that were now just getting out of the ruins of the first destroyed tower.

Out in the field _Lion's Pride_ was being ripped apart and Jaune could see the crew bailing but he along with everyone else still watching knew that they wouldn't make it. They watched as the five crew members ran west towards them as the monster ripped the turret off before hurling it at the fleeing people.

Two of them ended up being squashed by the turret before the monster chased down the other three. Blake who had the best eyesight amongst the eight Beacon students wanted to look away but couldn't as she watched their final moments.

One of them was split in two by the creature then another had everything above their waist obliterated by a backhand swing before it grabbed the last member with its clawed hand then squished him.

Before anyone could really say anything the final Hydra tower imploded rocking the already weakened wall hard enough that they struggled to keep their footing. Jaune looked around to see soldiers running to the south and north walls or simply climbing off altogether.

"We need to go!" Ruby called out and Jaune grabbed Pyrrha's arm as the red head girl was staring out at the field. The line of people had finally made their move, like a tidal wave Jaune could see hundreds of them moving forward towards the Outpost as more cannon shots soared into the air.

Pyrrha finally began to move at that point and Jaune followed her as four jarring impacts hit the wall. Off to his right Jaune could see a fiery explosion as the Outpost's gate shattered inward.

Soldiers and vehicles maneuvered in front of the destroyed gate. Several Chimeras were placed in a semicircle facing the gate with riflemen and soldiers armed with assault stubbers crouching or laying down in front of the armored transports.

Jaune however was running with team RWBY and Pyrrha as they went looking for the rest of their platoon. What they didn't see but Ren and Nora did was the bloodbath that engulfed the stricken gate.

Ren and Nora who had found a pair of injured soldiers had made it down the slowly weakening wall as it got hammered from the outside cannons. As they reached the ground however they saw the defending soldiers and Chimera gunners opening up at the unseen foe.

The noise of the gunfire was tremendous that anyone even a few miles out from the Outpost would have easily heard the roar of automatic fire.

Ren, armed with StormFlower, waited with Nora as another pair of soldiers who were apparently escorting a medic that came to look at the two injured soldiers. However all five of them looked up in surprise as they heard horses of all things.

Coming in through the gate weathering the incoming gunfire that ripped into their thick metal plate armor and mounts were dozens of large cavalrymen. Each horse was easily twenty hands high and looked to be strong animals as they were adorned with heavy looking armor.

Ren couldn't help but get a terrifying flashback to one particular night many years ago however these were monsters of a different degree. Horses and riders fell under the weight of gunfire but enough reached the Arcadian line.

Armed with heavy lances, long bladed spears, axes, maces or sword and shield combinations they rode into the infantry. Ren felt his face twist in anger, while it looked like the cavalry were taking the bigger loss at first once they were among the Arcadians however they began to reap a heavy toll.

"Ren." Nora said from next to him and he looked to see the anger in her eyes.

"You want to go down there, don't you?" He asked obviously aware of her answer as she gave him a twisted smile before readying Magnhild.

"Are you with us?" Ren asked turning to face the other two soldiers with them; they both nodded readying their rifles as the medic tended to the two wounded soldiers. Nora raised Magnhild and fired three times as Ren dashed forward with the two soldiers shortly behind him.

As Ren got close he watched as a trio of pink blossoms erupted amongst the cavalry that had broken contact with the Arcadians. The explosions sent horsemen off their mounts though whether or not it put them out of action Ren wasn't sure as he leapt up on the nearest Chimera.

He nearly stopped completely as he saw the Chimera gunner slumped by his gun. As Ren reached out to check if he was still alive he saw that the soldier's faceplate had a wide vertical slit in the middle of it.

Gritting his teeth he stood up with StormFlower in hand as more foes came through the gate. Though they weren't mounted horsemen but on foot. Dozens if not hundreds of men that wore a motley amount of armor or weapons came at the soldiers.

As Ren opened up with StormFlower he gave a quick glance at the Arcadians and could see that they in fact did beat most of the cavalry though at least twenty had made it past the defenders to run rampant in the base but the Arcadian soldiers looked mostly spent from the effort.

If he had to guess at least a third were dead or dying while the others rallied themselves with only a few squads worth of soldiers were firing at the advancing horde of men.

Some of the Arcadians armed with melee weapons however moved immediately forward to engage the charging men. Ren figured that they must be the ones that had their Aura unlocked as Jaune mentioned earlier.

Ren couldn't help but think that they weren't half bad as he watched a soldier armed with a short sword and a war axe kill six men in less than a minute.

When a mace struck his face however it gave an opening to allow even more men to start hacking at him with their weapons. In a manner of seconds his Aura began to fail and the weapons began to strike home.

Ren opened fired with both of his pistols from above peppering the attacking men with Dust rounds. As each round sent a gout or spray of blood Ren realized that none of them had their Aura unlocked yet they were able to overpower a soldier with an unlocked Aura.

From above however a familiar form came soaring through the air, Nora screamed in either anger or joy, he really wasn't sure at this point as she came down amongst the attackers. Ren winced as he watched the broken forms of people flying up through the air as Nora swung Magnhild around and around.

Nora didn't actually know what was going on, she didn't know who she was fighting, and she didn't know if they had Aura. All she knew was that she had to fight them, a man screamed as he lunged at her with a sword and she battered it aside with her hammer before quickly kicking him away as something hard hit her back.

Not even taking a second to see who it was she spun around clockwise bringing Magnhild up to hit the man in the chest sending him flying back into several others. She then spun around swinging hard as she did so, smashing aside another blade before carrying through to shatter the leg of another man that was trying to move past her.

The man screamed but Nora ignored it as she swung Magnhild again sending a man with a shield backwards into his comrades. Then she brought it down on another man breaking both of his arms as he tried to block the blow with his war axe.

Nora grunted as something sharp struck her in the back so she turned around swinging low with Magnhild shattering the hip of the man that struck her. More blows started to get in on her now, a spear thrust to her leg, a mace hit from the side and another sword strike from behind.

Though with each swing Nora was killing or crippling these men. She knew what she was doing was wrong on some level at the same time she felt it was necessary to strike with lethality.

As these men were cutting apart the Arcadians who struggled to keep them pinned in at the gate. At the same time she was completely surrounded and they were hitting her with every chance they could get.

She was vaguely aware of Ren standing somewhere off to the side firing down on the crowd of attacking men but he was avoiding getting sucked into the melee as she had done.

As she ducked under another mace swing only to jab Magnhild forward, smashing the top of her hammer into the man's face breaking bone and teeth, someone struck her head from behind. While her Aura prevents any lethal damage it didn't mean she didn't feel the blow or the pain.

"Nora! Get out of there!" Ren's voice called out into her ear and she remembered that she still had the ear bud in. She swung Magnhild around in a circle with one hand as she touched her throat with her free hand.

"I can't hold them off forever Ren; you need to find Jaune and the others to help us." Nora said as she quickly shifted Magnhild to its compact form then fired twice into the crowd. The twin pink blasts sent men flying backward as if they had been pulled backwards by some invisible force, the close proximity of the blast even threatened to knock her off her feet as well.

Gunfire roared out from behind her and she felt something painful strike her back twice before she jumped aside. A few of the Arcadian soldiers had thinned out the attackers near them who had also been behind her and some of their rifle rounds had inevitably hit her.

As she smashed aside another man who charged at her with a large chipped sword she couldn't help but wonder how much Aura she had left. Despite her strength though Nora was aware that while she could beat anyone that came up to her there were far too many for her to take on alone.

"Nora! You have to get out of there, the line is collapsing." Ren called out again and Nora glanced over her shoulder to see that he was right. The Arcadians didn't have the chance to reform when the enemy hit them and now locked were locked in fierce close quarters combat but were getting pushed back.

Nora cursed as the soldiers began to fall back, so she turned to run towards Ren who was reloading StormFlower before the both of them ran further into the Outpost.

At the same time outside of the Outpost the three Sicarans had been dispatched by the Neverborn who raced towards the gate following the advance of the full plated warriors.

Inside the main Keep Madeg frantically had the staff send emergency reports to the other two Outposts warning them. As well as sending a report to the western wall where Major Waldemar Hauck of the 7th Battalion was supposed to be preparing to go after the remaining Grimm that fled north.

All throughout the Outpost things had begun to fall apart, soldiers raced to put out the fire that had been ignited by the barracks from the cannon shots. While others were trying to save whomever they could from the burning tents of the field hospital.

At the same time the cavalry that had broken through the line at the gate were galloping around hacking, chopping, slice or trampling anyone they saw.

Jaune and the others however found the other members of their platoon. Sgèin and Martin were using their squads to help put out one of the fires that had spread out from the initial impact site of the cannon shots.

"Sgèin! Martin!" Jaune called out and located them when two armored soldier turned to his voice so he ran up to them as Pyrrha along with team RWBY went to help the soldiers put the fire out.

"It's good you're here Jaune, we need help putting this fire out before it spreads anymore." Sgèin said but Jaune shook his head.

"No time for that, the gate's been breached." This put a stop to the two sergeants as they turned to look at him.

"We know, but we can't just let this go unchecked." Martin said but as if fate was waiting for that moment two riders turned the corner, Pyrrha shouted a warning as she saw two soldiers carrying a wounded man who had a wood fragment sticking out of his abdomen were in the horsemen's path.

The lead horseman had a long bladed spear with strange red runes glowing along its length. He was massive in his black plate armor adorned with a fur cloak and red cloth underneath even still his horse was huge which just served in making his stature even larger.

The group watched in horror as the horseman swept his spear out taking the heads of the two soldiers at the same time before trampling over the wounded man between them. As the horsemen rode past Yang was the first to make a move jumping out with a scream and unloading her gauntlets after the horseman.

Her rage fell on proverbial deaf ears as the shotgun rounds had little to no effect on the horsemen. However several soldiers picked up their rifles to start firing at the receding horsemen but it was too late as they turned the corner of another barrack building.

In the distance the gunfire that had been snapping and cracking furiously had begun to die down. Jaune watched as more cannon shots soared through the air to impact on the western wall or out of sight sending loud booms that punctured the ever dwindling automatic fire.

"Form up!" Martin called out and Jaune watched as Sgèin grabbed her arm.

"Don't look at me like that, we've got to fight or we're gonna die here. So fuck the fire and let's move." The other sergeant didn't say anything at first but Jaune didn't see if he nodded or shook his head as he turned to Pyrrha and team RWBY.

"What's the plan?" He asked and Yang slammed a fist into her palm.

"We go and kick ass."

"Yang we need to keep our wits about us, you saw what those things did to those tanks earlier we don't even know who we're fighting. This isn't some Kingdom on Kingdom or White Fang attack; we're not even fighting the Grimm." Weiss said.

"Which we need to come to terms with fast if we want to live." Jaune interjected and they looked at him.

"Ruby can you take point, Sgèin and Martin can form their squads behind you while Pyrrha and I take the rear."

"Jaune! Jaune, are you there!?" Ren's voice appeared suddenly in Jaune's ear and he clicked the sensors around his throat.

"Ren, I'm here, where are you?"

"I'm with Nora and we're falling back with the soldiers towards the main keep, Shimman says that Madeg is forming the rest of the company there."

"Roger that, we'll meet you over there." Jaune said before looking around, Pyrrha, team RWBY along with Martin and Sgèin's squads were forming around him.

"It seems the gate is lost, so we're heading to the Keep." At that moment something happened interesting happened.

Further north of them parts the western wall had begun to take serious hits from outside cannons which had been zeroed in with the help of the horsemen. However certain sections of the wall had been pulling up a large quantity of exposed munitions which had been in the process of resupplying the wall guns.

In particular one crate fifty shells of high explosive shells for the Lancer Field Guns was cooked by the intense heat of the cannon shots which set them off. The combined explosion went off with a deafening boom that rung in ears of every person within the Outpost.

That section western wall that had barely survived from the onslaught of the Grimm attack from before collapsed under its own weight as the blast had created a ten by ten meter size hole in it.

Madeg who was still in the Keep raced outside to see what had happened, all around the Keep entrance soldiers were setting up a defensive position.

Less than two hundred yards away the invading mass of warriors butchered the Chimera crews. Not because they were a threat but to him it looked like they were doing so for the fun of it.

In the corner of his eye he spotted Ren and Nora. The quiet green cladded teen was supporting his short friend; the hammer wielder was covered in blood and looked like she was going to be sick.

Madeg didn't blame her as Ren looked the same though as he looked around he could see that the few soldiers that didn't have their helmets also looked a little sick. Fighting the Grimm was one thing as they all knew they were monsters given form but it was men and women that were butchering his soldiers or their comrades.

"Captain!" A voice called out and Madeg turned to see Shimman jogging up to him. The Faunus Lieutenant didn't have her helmet on, soot and flecks of blood covered her face.

"Where's your helmet?" He asked and the Lieutenant shrugged.

"It got fucked after I took a glancing hit from a mace so I ditched it." She explained.

"Deòir is dead by the way." Madeg jerked his head back a little then nodded after a moment. Deòir was the commander of 2nd Platoon and probably the most experienced man amongst his officers.

"Who else is dead?" Madeg asked and Shimman shrugged.

"Giolla voxed in saying she's hunkered down on the south east end of the Outpost with most of her platoon and a few dozen from the Defensive Company as for Menez and the rest of 3rd they're scattered or dead as far as I'm aware of since they were at the gate."

"Alright how many do we have here with us?" Madeg said looking around.

"I'd reckon we've got most of my platoon, and yours along with a decent amount of the Defensive Company so probably more than a hundred."

"Incoming!" Someone shouted nearby so Ren and Nora looked up to see something flying through the air. Men and women screamed in pain or surprise as they were struck.

Ren looked towards a screaming woman near them and could see that she kneeling on one leg with an arrow sticking out of her other thigh then she seemingly sprouted another arrow in the neck. Her screaming changed into thick gurgling as she fell back clawing at her own throat before her frantic movements stopped.

Madeg who had crouched down at the warning looked to the side to see that Shimman was dead; she had three arrows sticking out of her chest.

"Here they come!" Someone shouted and Madeg looked up to see the Archenemy charging the base of the Keep.

"Open fire!" He shouted as he raised his own rifle and lined the sights up before firing a three second long burst. Forty yards out a man toppled backwards and all along the line soldiers fired their weapons whether it was handguns, rifles, assault stubbers or even Accatran Rockets.

On the opposite side of this new fight, Jaune stopped with the others as they watched in surprise. Dozens if not hundreds of people were gunned down as they charged the Arcadian soldiers before they were amongst them hacking or slicing away. Soldiers within the Keep itself fired more Accatran Rockets or were using Heavy Stubbers.

"What are you standing there for!? Fight!" Sgèin screamed as he opened up with his own rifle. The other soldiers began to fire as well and Jaune looked down at his hands which held Crocea Mors. They were shaking and his throat was dry to the point that it felt difficult to breath.

"Jaune, look at me." A soft voice said in his ear and he looked up to see Pyrrha's vivid-green eyes looking into his own.

"I'm with you Jaune, now and always." She said softly and Jaune nodded as the two of them turned to see team RWBY hesitantly ready their weapons. Martin and Sgèin's squads along with the other soldiers that they picked up began to fire at their new enemy.

Jaune readied Crocea Mors then jogged forward then began to run with Pyrrha and team RWBY at his side as well. The closer he got the more he could pick out details, strange tattoos, talismans of animals or humans, armor, thick looking muscles, weapons and blood.

He drew his sword arm back as a man with a longsword and armor covering his head and left arm turned towards him. Jaune plunged his sword into the man's throat before kicking him off, a second man turned quickly with an axe swinging down at Jaune but he raised his shield up to intercept the blow while stabbing low putting his sword a foot deep into his body.

As the man fell back Pyrrha came in behind Jaune flinging Akoúo forward, the bronze shield whished through the air before slamming into the chest of a man with a battle axe. She winced internally as the man had neither chest protection nor Aura as she could visibly see the indentation of his broken sternum.

To her right another man came at her with two long daggers, she dodged one while simultaneously parrying the second with Miló then with the flat of her left palm slammed it upward under his chin. Again wincing as she could see something give as her palm hit him.

Retrieving Akoúo via her semblance she parried another sword as the bronze shield made its way to her arm then brought it up to block a sword strike that someone tried to sneak in behind her.

As the blade slide off the bronze surface she kicked back aiming low to hit a knee, the man screamed in pain as his knee bent completely inward only for her to silence him by twisting around to smash the flat side of Miló against the side of his head.

The man fell but two more took his place, Pyrrha parried and blocked as the two came at her. Turning aside one sword she then knocked the second sword aside with her shield before kicking at the second man's chest sending him stumbling back as the first man came at her.

She ducked his high swing then used Akoúo's edge to check the low follow up then used the flat end of Miló's blade to smash his jaw sending him to the ground. The man from before came at her and she battered his sword thrust upwards before going in with a high knee that connected with the man's solar plexus.

Jaune pulled his sword free of another opponent to see that Pyrrha had cleared a noticeable area around herself. Pausing a moment he could see that she was beating almost anyone that came at her in three hits or less.

Though he couldn't help but notice that she was purposely avoiding using her blade to actually inflict any dangerous blow which made him look at his own sword. Crocea Mors was covered in blood of dead men, was he the only one willingly killing his opponents?

As another man swung a large battle axe at him Jaune raised his sword to block the strike before his sword flashed out to cut a long gash across the man's forearm.

The man grunted but Jaune didn't want to give him breathing room so he pressed forward. However he was surprised that the man was able to push back as hard as Jaune even with the injured arm.

Jaune could feel his back foot slipping as the ground was starting to grow a little wetter than it was before. So he stepped aside letting the man come forward, off balanced as there was no force to counter act his own.

Wasting no time Jaune slashed down cutting across the back of the man's leg before following him to plunge his sword into the man's back. Jaune felt sick with himself as he took note of the resistance the man's body had against his sword.

Something smashed into his back but Jaune didn't have the chance to pull his sword out as a large hand grabbed his right shoulder and pulling him backwards. Remembering what Areto told him from what seemed like so long ago he made sure to keep his grip on his sword and it came free of the man's body as he was twisted around to get a struck in the chest with a flanged mace.

His Aura flashed as it protected him but Jaune still felt the impact and some pain from the force but coupled with his chest plate he knew he was fine.

The man that had grabbed him had loose shoulder length hair that looked greasy and tangled with scars adorning his face. Jaune knew he was strong as tried to pry the man's arm off by pushing up with his shield arm but failed.

The man gave a gapped tooth snarl before head butting Jaune and a flash of white went across his vision. As it cleared he could see that the man's forehead was split with blood trailing down it but he paid no heed as he reared his head back to head-butt him again.

Jaune tried to angle his sword so he could jab it at the man but he saw what he was doing and brought his mace down on Jaune's hand. This hurt a lot more and Jaune gritted his teeth as the man's forehead slammed into his nose.

At that moment someone's foot came into view smashing into the side of the man's head sending him to the ground and Jaune struggled to stay upright as the man still had a decent grip on him. Looking around he could see that it was Yang that had come to his rescue again.

The blond brawler didn't say anything as she kept her guard up then moved in ducking a sword swing then twisting out of the way of another man's strike then sent a high kick that took this man in the head before backhanding the first man sending him to the ground with relative ease.

Ruby, Blake, and Weiss were there as well taking out opponents one by one. But Jaune noticed something off about how they fight but couldn't figure it out.

"Jaune! Get out of there!" Martin voice came through his ear but he had no chance to respond as another man came at him this time with a sword and shield combo.

Jaune struck first but the man blocked it with his round shield but sent a thrust out at him however Jaune knocked it aside with the edge of his shield then sent an overhead strike making the man raise his own shield to block.

With that Jaune pushed forward using his shield to jump forward into the man sending him stumbling back. Though he was able to bring his sword up in time to turn aside Jaune's overhead strike before using the edge of his shield to strike at Jaune but he stepped aside then hammered the edge of his shield into the man's face sending him stumbling to the ground.

With his guard open so Jaune swung down, Crocea Mors cutting deeply into the man's side but it wasn't a fatal blow it was enough to insure his death.

"RUN!" Martin's voice screamed in his ear and Jaune finally realized what she was trying to tell him. He hadn't noticed that the enemy had thinned out before falling back away from the Keep. If he took the time to look he would see that there were hundreds of dead or dying people while most of them were this unknown enemy Jaune knew that a good number of them had to be Arcadians.

Yet that wasn't what had his attention, the defeated enemies were regrouping by the gates but there was already another group there. An unknown amount of heavily plated warriors were arrayed before them, Jaune could see that they looked a lot like the two riders from before.

Behind them however were the three hulking forms of the monsters that had defeated the tanks in the field outside.

"Jaune!" A familiar voice called out, he looked over his shoulder to see Nora and Ren running up to them. The two of them looked exhausted but they eyed their new foes with caution.

"We're glad to see the two of you are safe." Pyrrha said from the side and Ren nodded.

"Yea it was pretty close a few times there." He said.

"Look." Blake said drawing their attention, the ranks of armored plate warriors parted to let a tall warrior, in bluish armor with gold swirls that seemed to move like an optical illusion, forward. He had no weapons on him but Blake's instincts screamed at her that he was dangerous.

Glancing around she could see Yang and Pyrrha shifting almost nervously which just reinforced her instincts since the arguably strongest and best fighter amongst them both looked nervous then something was wrong.

" **You have fought valiantly!** " A booming voice said but Jaune winced as a pulse of pain erupted from his mind.

" **Do not worry, I know that for most of you this may feel uncomfortable but forgive me as I would rather not yell my own voice hoarse in order for your scattered people to hear my offer.** _"_ Jaune realized what he meant by that as he looked at his friends.

"Wait a minute, is he, in our heads?" Yang asked in confusion as she looked around.

" **Let us put an end to this fighting, send forth whoever you call a leader so that we may talk in a civilized fashion.** " The voice said sending another way of pulsing pain through his head. As he looked down he noticed he had one foot on a man's hand around him were a number of lifeless bodies.

Then it occurred to him as he looked at the blood soaking the ground that they were the reason why he had trouble with his footing earlier.

"Jaune." He lifted Crocea Mors and saw the blood staining it.

"Jaune!" Was someone calling for him? He looked up and gave a startled yelp at seeing the bloody face of someone in front of him.

"Whoa! Easy there man." The face said as a pair of strong hands gripped his arms and he blinked realizing the bloody face was Madeg. He had a nasty looking cut across his forehead that bled down his face.

"Madeg?! Are you alright?" Jaune asked and the man frowned.

"I could ask you the same thing but this isn't the time, you and I need to go have a chat with this guy." He said and Jaune frowned.

"Are you sure that's a wise move?" Pyrrha asked from next to Jaune.

"No but it's a necessary part of my plan. There's a hole in the western wall, I've already told Martin to start leading the others out through there while Sgèin is leading the rearguard over by the Keep. If they get past us right now then they'll massacre the others out in the field." Madeg explained.

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll do the talking but if things go tits up I'd feel a little better knowing you're there with me as backup." He said and Jaune sniffed before nodding.

"Alright, I'll help, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora go help the others escape. Ruby you should go as well."

"Bullshit." Yang said and Ruby nodded.

"Jaune, it'd be better if we went with you, if they attack you then we'll be there to help you both." The young team leader said.

"She's right Jaune." Ren added and Jaune just sighed. He didn't have the patience to argue against them and a part of him was glad to know that they would come so he looked at Madeg.

"Alright then, lead the way."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

The Tactical Operation Center located within the central Keep of Toutatis was a mess of activity. Reports had filtered in that one of the Outposts in the far west was under siege by the Archenemy.

Brigadier General Alrun Meidner stood with her hands behind her back looking at the large digital topographic map of the region. The map was covered in marks of all known military assets along with their objectives, heading and strength with hourly updates.

"Have you reestablished contact with our forces at the Outpost?" Meidner asked one of her attendants.

"No ma'am, the last report we received came from Captain Amand Madeg from Wiscard's Battalion stating that the main gate had been breached and that he was rallying his company around the Outpost Keep." Meidner gritted her teeth as she studied the map. Wiscard had been the first to hear of the news and was reacting by deploying two companies as a southern screen while he was rallying the two tank platoons at his disposal. Then he was planning on pushing south to either relieve the defenders or avenge them but it would take at least a few more hours before he'd reach there. So she had ordered him to hold off from moving in force to meet this foe.

Even then they didn't know the full extent of this incursion nor do they know where they came from at all. As far as Meidner knew the only active rift was in Irkalla but the region was stabilizing at the moment so there's no way that a force of Chaos Warriors and Marauders could be on Sanus of all places.

Meidner knew that she needed time and breathing room as the Air Force was still marshaling their strength before attacking the Grimm to the north. Until then Meidner knew that Wiscard's only support would be in the form of the few Vulture Flights still in the valley along with the Earthshaker batteries of the western wall.

"Damn it; send word to Hauck that he's to send three Companies south to assist Major Wiscard he'll have to make do with two Companies." The original plan had been for Hauck to deploy his Battalion to pin the Grimm down while the Air Force bombs them as the northern valleys were narrow enough that it wouldn't take much to hold the passes between them. Now though he'll only be able to hold one passage against the Grimm.

"Ma'am we have a problem!" Someone called out and one of the staff officers came up to her before saluting.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Another transmission just came through." The officer said before holding out a paper transcript which Meidner began to read.

"Fuck." She snapped as she balled up the paper before throwing it aside.

"Someone get Governor Kagiris on the line."

 **Meanwhile…**

Madeg armed with a rifle along with Jaune, the rest of his team and team RWBY walked up to the blue plated warrior before stopping ten feet away from him. He was easily over seven feet tall and was massive though whether it was because of his armor Jaune didn't know.

"Ah, greetings, you must be the leaders of this camp." The tall plated warrior said.

"This is Arcadian Territory, state who you are and your reason for this unprovoked attack." Madeg called out and Jaune could practically feel the shift to anticipation from the array of warriors before them, save for the one that spoke. It was difficult to get a read on the guy in his full plate armor but Jaune felt as if he was thinking of what to say.

"Do you really not know who we are or why we're here?" The warrior asked tilting his strange horned helm to the side but before anyone could say anything he began to laugh, first it was a soft chuckle that grew louder and louder till it made him sound hysterical.

"It doesn't matter I suppose, you attacked us in an unprovoked manner."

"Unprovoked you say?"

"Yes, you're standing upon the bodies of my people, all of whom were slain by your hands."

"We didn't start this fight but we'll defend ourselves in whatever manner we see fit against any threat to us." Jaune called out and Madeg glanced at him.

"My, you don't look like a soldier but aside from this other one; you're the only one that smells of blood. I watched you fight and it surprises me that the only two that willfully or at least knowingly killed are the ones that support this sigil." The warrior said pointing at Jaune's shield.

"Must I take it that you are a people that seek violence to solve all your problems?"

"This from someone that murdered someone in cold blood, we saw you string out the body of an innocent woman!" Ruby shouted and the warrior cocked his head to the side again.

"Innocent? She was not innocent at all, she attacked us first and we merely defended ourselves."

"Then why did you string her body up like some sick trophy?" Yang asked heatedly and Jaune couldn't help but notice that it looked like her hair was glowing.

"To warn off any more would be attackers but it obviously didn't work, when my scouts found you spying on us what did you do? You fought and killed a number of them then ran off to avoid justice which we then tracked you down here. I could only assume you and everyone else that would reside in such a place must be the same as such we took a preemptive strike against those that would do us harm in spreading the Truth."

"Truth?" Weiss asked and the man held his arms open as if he was basking in the applause of an unseen audience.

"Yes, the Primordial Truth."

"The what?" Jaune asked and caught the meaningful glance from Madeg. It was clear that he didn't like that question but the blue armored warrior chuckled.

"Why young one, it is the one and only truth. It is the end and the beginning as it represents the cycles of all things. Without it there were be a void of darkness so deep, so suffocating that nothing would exist anywhere or when." The warrior said calmly but Madeg stepped in front of Jaune.

"That's enough of your bullshit." This seemed to get a more visible reaction as the warrior's great helm seemed to jerk back as if stricken.

"You think I would lie mortal?" Jaune frowned at the choice of words as the armored warrior stepped forward with a crunch as the warrior stepped on a dead man's head covering the ground in gore.

"I think you should leave before I put you down." Madeg said evenly but Jaune could see the man sweating and so did the warrior as he chuckled.

"I can smell your fear, it emanates off you like heat from a fire though do be careful as you may draw back those fouls creatures from before." In a flash however the warrior surged forward before grabbing Madeg by the throat, lifting him clear off his feet. Jaune and the others readied their weapons but the warrior held out his free hand to stop them.

"I can break his neck before any of you could stop me." He said in a rather matter of fact tone.

"What do you want!?" Ruby called out and the warrior sighed.

"It's simple; I want to show you the Truth." He said they watched as Madeg started to squirm harder and harder. Jaune could see the man's face turning dark red then purple as he suffocated.

"Stop!" Jaune called out but there was a sharp crack as the warrior broke his neck and Madeg twitched a little but soon even that stopped.

"You'll never get away with this." Jaune called out and glanced over at Nora who met his eyes. He gave her a subtle nodded which she returned before whispering to Ren.

"And what makes you think that young man?" The warrior asked and Jaune grinned.

"This." At that moment Ren brought up StormFlower and opened up on the warrior. As the warrior brought his arms up to shield himself from the light caliber rounds, Nora charged forward with Magnhild raised.

"Fools." Was the only thing Jaune managed to hear before Nora was blasted backwards by a fiery explosion and Jaune raised his shield to protect himself. As the smoke cleared Jaune lowered his shield to see the warrior standing tall with his hands covered in purplish blue fire.

At the same time the three monsters that had been standing still in the background roared as they came forward. They ignored or were oblivious to the fact that they were tossing aside their own warriors.

The bestial monster charged Blake who stood at the farthest end of the group. The Faunus girl ran forward firing Gambol Shroud then jumped high using a shadow to bait the beast like creature to lower its head to impale the shadow on a tusk.

Blake landed on the creature's back and struggled to stay on for a second then began to lash out with Gambol Shroud cutting grooves into the creature back hitting the exposed parts between the naturally growing red plates. Though she wasn't expect blood to spray up into her face as she made a two foot long laceration into it.

Yang who saw Blake on the beast like creature raced to support her partner, yelling she leapt forward with a boost from Ember Celica to propel herself into smashing a fist into the side of the creature's face.

The thing roared in anger or pain no one could tell but it jerked its head to the side but Yang had already jumped back out of its reach only to dash back in with hands held at ready as she sent an upper cut straight to its jaw.

At that point small arms fire resumed from behind the Beacon students as at least a few of the Arcadian soldiers had stayed behind to provide support. Assault and Heavy Stubbers took a noticeable toll on the plated warriors as the gunfire killed at least one out of every five plate warrior.

The smaller caliber rifle rounds however at range were proving to be unreliable to breech the thicker portions of the plate armor however the few marksmen amongst the rearguard took note that the joints and helmet were the primary targets to hit at a ranges over six hundred meters. This would hamstring most riflemen as their weapons had the hardest time of penetrating or even hitting even these weak points.

As Yang and Blake teamed up on the bestial monster Ruby and Weiss went for the tentacle monstrosity. The two of them tackled it fairly well as Ruby would zoom in cutting deeply into its side then getting out of reach before it could react while Weiss stayed back providing Glyphs to assist Ruby in changing directions or boosting her speed while pelting it with ice.

Though that didn't mean that they didn't have problems, the two girls couldn't figure out how to kill it fast enough.

As Ruby had to back out from getting sick at being covered in more blood and gore than she had ever seen or thought of was possible Weiss noticed something crucial. Unless the wounds were rather significant, the cuts or swallow punctures they inflicted on it would be healed. While the creature did have some noteworthy injuries it was still fine.

For Nora and Ren the two of them struggled with the largest of the three monsters. After a few minutes of moving in and out of its reach Nora found that nothing seemed to slow it down. The two of them became aware that almost instantly it would repair the damage done to it.

Jaune however faced off against the warrior as he stood over Madeg's body. Behind him the other plated warriors seemed to flow around the fight to assault the rearguard inside the Keep.

Pyrrha stood next to Jaune with her weapons held ready as did he, for the first time in recent memory her hands shook. Yet it wasn't fear that made them shake, that was something that her grandmother had trained out of her when she was little.

No, it was excitement.

For the first time in months, she had found a truly worthy opponent. Sure Beacon had allowed her to meet skilled fighters such as Yang or Nora with their brute but calculated strength. There was Blake and Ren with their evasive combat styles. Then there was Ruby and Weiss with their speed or vast tactical options along with Jaune in his stoic swordsmanship.

Yet she had beaten all of them whenever they sparred, some of it did have to do with her semblance but she more often than not didn't need it as she had learned how they fought, that she understood them to a point that she only deployed her semblance if she was stuck in a two versus one or fell for a feint.

Though that wasn't to discredit her newfound friends but to her the facts were clear. She had to wonder if it was arrogant of her to think that.

Maybe but to her it still didn't necessarily mean she was wrong.

Shaking her head she saw Jaune dash forward though she didn't follow him, instead opting to wait and circle the warrior.

Jaune gritted his teeth as he slashed in a downward motion at the warrior but unsurprisingly he shifted to the side avoiding the strike. However Jaune knew that if he let up then he may very well lose so he followed through with the motion spinning counter the warrior bringing Crocea Mors back around in a vertical slash aimed for the midriff.

The warrior however jumped back so Jaune followed him with a thrust but the warrior knocked the blade aside by punching the flat of the blade making it narrowly miss his armored form. Jaune was barely able to twist at the waist avoiding the uppercut of the warrior.

He hammered the edge of his shield against the warrior's elbow and felt vibrations travel painfully up his arm as he struck. While he did in fact move the arm it had felt as if he had punched a solid wall instead of a plate armored forearm.

Not letting up Jaune slashed with Crocea Mors then followed up with backhand swing but the warrior simply avoid him which made Jaune feel angry both at himself and at his opponent.

As he came in for a high swing again Jaune stopped halfway through with the motion instead lunging forward with his shield putting his weight behind it but the next thing he knew he was on his back looking up at the plated warrior who had Jaune's shield in his hand.

"It's smart trying to take your foe by surprise but when he's stronger than you don't rely on the surprise to make up the difference." The warrior said evenly but Jaune could picture the smile he might have inside the strange helmet but then something odd happened as the warrior kneeled over Jaune. This gave Jaune a closer look at the warrior and noticed that he couldn't actually see anything about the guy inside the slits of his helmet.

"Now I want you to listen carefully as I could snuff out the life of everyone I see here as if it was nothing seeing as I'm a true servant of my masters; as such I have been granted gifts in their honor that would make you scream in agony as I break not only your body but your mind and soul as well. So believe me when I say that I'm letting you live not for your own good nor because I want too but because it's necessary." At that moment the warrior looked up only to get the bronze shield to his face. Pyrrha came in with a yell using her javelin to smash the outside of the warrior's knee as he tried to stand up.

With roar of his own the warrior surged to his feet, blue fire emerging from his hands before flinging something that looked like a ball of congealed lava only except it was blue at Pyrrha who jumped over it. However as the ball struck the ground Pyrrha was flung forward as it exploded.

The warrior surged forward and slammed a fire covered fist into Pyrrha's stomach. She let out a gasp of air as she fell to the ground then immediately rolled over with Miló in hand switching it to its Xiphos form then moved forward.

Unlike before the warrior moved to engage her but Pyrrha ducked underneath a blow before coming up slashing Miló across his chest though it didn't even look like it was close to penetrating.

Pyrrha started back stepping as she turned aside the warrior's fists with the flat side of Miló or simply ducked in and out of his guard while striking at a different section of armor in hopes of getting a weak spot.

As she ducked under a right hook then stepped back avoiding the upper cut that followed she moved in, spinning low to the right and jabbed Miló forward aimed at the back of his left knee. Here her blade found purchase as it dug into the exposed leg between the poleyn and cuisse.

Here Pyrrha was expecting the warrior to cry out in pain or fall down or something. Instead when she looked out she could see that he had another congealed ball of that blue lava looking thing in his hand that he flung down at his own feet.

The subsequent explosion sent both of them flying and as Pyrrha got to her feet she recalled Akoúo with came sailing back to her hand. Jaune was also on his feet now and held his weapons ready as the plated warrior stood up.

Nearby an explosion rocked the Keep as the defenders inside fought off the plated warriors while Blake helped Yang away from the bestial monster which was laying still on the ground though Yang's Aura had been broken in the process which led to her getting cut across her midriff.

Ruby and Weiss had also beaten their monster but they didn't kill it. Instead the two of them had cut as many limbs off as they could before Weiss hammered it with as much ice as she could before heading over to help Ren and Nora.

If someone had a chance to get a top down view of the Outpost they would have also seen that aside from the Keep they were the only ones left standing. Everywhere else the enemy had killed and butchered the defenders without remorse.

Outside though Martin lead a little more than a hundred soldiers northward for little while till they reached a few hills that gave them a good look at the burning mess of the Outpost.

Though they immediately were found by what seemed to be the remnants of the cavalry that had been the first to breech the Outpost there they would engage in various skirmishes to fend off the harassing force.

Back inside the Outpost Jaune and Pyrrha fought the plated warrior. Though Jaune had to admit, it was mostly Pyrrha doing most of the heavy lifting as Jaune was getting thrashed. Every other swing the warrior knocked aside before hammering a gauntlet or knee into Jaune and if he did block it was strong enough to send him stumbling back.

"I've had enough of this." The warrior said after Pyrrha slammed Akoúo into his chest then unloading a dozen near point blank shots into his chest before trying to aim a thrust in the soft spot between his chest plate and pauldron only to have him slam his flame engulfed hand against Pyrrha sending her flying a dozen feet back.

The two of them didn't get a chance to respond as the fire around his hands went out only for sparks of electricity or power danced across the metal surface of his right gauntlet. Jaune watched almost in slow motion as he raised his hand up towards him, he tried to raise his shield but it felt like everything was moving too slow.

A bolt of lightning surged out from his hand and Pyrrha watched in terror as it struck Jaune before she could even shout a warning. Jaune flew back at least a dozen meters and while Pyrrha would have assumed he was fine she could instantly see that this wasn't normal lightning.

Jaune was convulsing violently on the floor so she rushed over to him, she could see Jaune's face contorted in pain and his mouth was open as if he was screaming yet no sound came out.

"Jaune!?" She called out putting a hand on him but she instantly let go as pain shot up her arm.

"Don't ignore your foe in a fight!" The warrior called out and Pyrrha brought up Akoúo in time to deflect his fist then stabbed upwards with Miló. She grimaced as he held out his hand, as her weapon pierced the less protected palm of the gauntlet he pushed his own hand further down the length of Miló before grabbing her hand.

"You're strong child but to me that strength means nothing as you do not have conviction." The warrior nodded his helmed head at Jaune who twisted in pain.

"He may not be strong or as skilled as you but he has conviction and if he lives that will see him to victory where you will only find death." He began to lift her up till she was clear off her feet at face to face level with him.

"Though he will never live to meet that potential and neither shall you." He said as he pulled back his other hand. At that moment Nora came in hammering Magnhild into his side sending him flying back.

"Jaune!?" Ruby called out from behind her and Pyrrha looked up to see the others forming up around them.

Weiss gestured with Myrtenaster forming half a dozen floating glyphs that shot out beams of energy that struck the warrior as he tried to stand up sending him onto his back again then rotated the chambers of Myrtenaster. She then stabbed down into the ground forming a small ice wall that barely protected them.

"I'm out!" Weiss called out as she backed away from the ice wall.

Blake, Yang and Ren watched the sides however keeping the warriors back as long as they could. It was clear to see that it wouldn't be long as Yang looked like she could barely stand while Ren and Blake couldn't contend with the wide front.

"We need to get out of here." Ruby said.

"We can't pick up Jaune, whatever that's hurting him hasn't let up yet." Pyrrha said.

"I can take him." Nora said from behind them and before any of them could say anything the short girl stooped down then picked up Jaune.

Pyrrha could see Nora grinning as the electricity passed over to her, she threw Jaune over her left shoulder then shifted Magnhild into its compact form so she could still use it.

"Come on!" Ruby called out as Pyrrha collected Crocea Mors as it had dropped from Jaune's hands then ran with the others, the plate warriors not far behind them. As the group ran towards the hole in the wall they watched as the main Keep exploded, Pyrrha hoped that the rearguard had pulled out before but something told her that wasn't the case.

As they reached the wall, something bright arced overhead. A bolt of lightning struck the wooden wall leaving a meter wide crater with a glowing red core that wafted smoke into the air.

Glancing over her shoulder Pyrrha could see the warrior they had fought on his feet coming after them. His left arm was a crumpled ruin yet he didn't seem to pay it any heed as he shot another bolt of lightning out from his right hand.

"Scatter!" Pyrrha screamed and the group broke apart as the bolt of lightning struck where Yang had been a few second prior.

"We're almost there!" Ren called out and Pyrrha looked up to see the ruin of the west wall. Two of the towers had fallen over while; there was a noticeable gap in the center of that section making the wall droop down.

How it was still holding up was beyond Pyrrha's ability to even guess. Ruby was the first to get there of course; the young team leader turned around then began to fire with Crescent Rose.

"Go!" She called out, Weiss, Yang and Blake however stopped beside her as they began to fire their weapons as well.

As Pyrrha stepped through the gap, she found that she was on a pile of the remaining charred, broken wall pieces that had landed in the torn up ground outside of the Outpost.

"Nora!" She called out; the hammer wielder was already at the bottom of the debris with Ren next to her.

"Get ready!" Pyrrha yelled as she pointed above her at the sagging ramparts of the wall. Nora nodded but Pyrrha had turned around already.

"Ruby! Get out of there!" She called out and the four girls didn't seem to register her words but Yang was the first to move. Before long the five of them were making their way down as Nora began to fire at the wall.

Looking over her shoulder Pyrrha could see pink explosions ripping chunks out and a part of her realized that Nora's grenades might not be enough to collapse the rest of the wall. Luckily enough her fears were put to rest as the remains of the wall fell down. Though Pyrrha noted that it probably wouldn't take them long to navigate over it.

"Let's go!" Ruby called out and they ran towards the tree line where Pyrrha spotted the familiar forms of Arcadian soldiers waiting for them.

Behind them, the plated warriors ignored the fleeing forms as they simply moved through the Outpost. Occasionally they would come across a few living people which they executed without remorse as the Keep burned high and bright with the few defenders still inside no doubt burning with it.

The sorcerer watched as Tekrac and Vamrond burned as well. With Vamrond dead, killed by the golden hair girl, and Tekrac crippled beyond his ability to heal the sorcerer settled on finishing them off.

Of course Az'gelloth was furious to know that his brothers were dead as such the Sorcerer had promised that he could hunt down the four girls that had killed them.

Looking down he could see that how compromised his arm and chest plate were. The large hammer girl had broken his arm along with six ribs. Had she followed up with a second strike he might have died but now he had the chance to knit his bones and flesh back together.

However it would take both a long time and a lot of his power before he was back at full strength. Yet if he tried to stay back in order to muster his strength with such a tenuous grasp as a Lord, he would show the others his weakness which would prompt them into trying to kill him so that they could take over.

This meant he'll have to fight, in a few hours though he hoped to be moving his force north to meet up with Krimval. He had lost nearly a third of his Marauders along with more than a hundred Warriors plus most of his Knights had he not taken the Outpost it would have been a disastrous defeat.

Even still he didn't want to call it a victory. He failed to kill all of the defenders, even encountering a new force that could pose a serious obstacle against him and his masters.

He didn't like this as he knew that the Pale Witch had assured him that her Grimm would have weakened the Arcadians. Though he supposed that their technology made up for the lack of numbers which reminded him of those he had met in the artic land earlier. Their technology matched if not surpassed that of the Arcadians.

Alas they were not here nor did he believe that they would allow him to command them as their pride was high and such prideful warriors were hard to keep a leash on. Even now he struggled to keep a grasp on some of the more robust warriors.

"My lord." A voice said and he turned to see a Norsii Jarl by the name of Stryzon Bloodcaller.

"What is it?"

"One of the Knights has returned with news of where the defenders have fled to."

"Good."

* * *

 **Later that Night…**

Jaune twitched hard as he woke up; opening his eyes he found that it was night out. Blinking a few times he looked up to see the soft glow of a red lensed right angle flashlight. Pain flashed through his torso making him take a deep breath before slowly releasing it.

As he looked down he realized that he was in fact on his back, he could also feel what he assumed was Crocea Mors on his chest.

"Stop." He said and whoever was carrying him halted. Jaune could hear other soldiers trudging past them in the dark. As he slowly got to his feet he nearly fell over but a pair of strong hands caught him.

"Thanks."

"It's not a problem sir." The distorted reply said from his side and he knew that it came from Arcadian infantry helmets. Looking down he could also see that it was the soldier that had the flashlight pinned to his chest.

"You don't have to call me that." Jaune said as he turned to the flashlight holder.

"Are you sure?" The soldier asked.

"Trust me, its fine, so what's your name?"

"Private Gilbert Avern, I'm at your service High Prince." Jaune winced a little at the title; it was honestly the first time anyone had actually called him that for a very long time.

"Sorry." The soldier said and Jaune shrugged as he looked around. Having been asleep it seemed that his eyes were already accustomed to the dark so he could tell that they were out of the Outpost.

"So where are we?"

"About ten klicks north of the Outpost, we've been fighting off their vanguard but its slow progress, we've got at least thirty people wounded with no one to take care of them?"

"No one?"

"None of the trained Medicae personnel made it out."

"What about Field Chiurgeons?"

"We've got a few but they don't have the tools or supplies need to actually treat anyone, literally just stopping the bleeding is all they can do." Jaune clicked his tongue before the soldier gave Jaune a light pull to indicate for him to follow.

"Come on we need to keep moving." He said and Jaune followed him in the dark for a little bit before remembering about the others. He checked his neck and found that the throat microphone wasn't there anymore.

"What happened to my mic?" Jaune asked.

"It got fried by that Lightning that the Mage hit you with."

"Mage?" Jaune asked and he could feel the confusion from the soldier before he laughed.

"Right, right, I guess Mage Warrior would be a better term." Jaune just chuckled along unsure of what he meant by that or why he was laughing.

At the same time he realized that it term did in fact make sense, as Jaune knew that whatever powers the warrior had used were not semblance based as he had no Aura whatsoever to speak of. Though Jaune had no idea how he was so strong without an Aura or a semblance.

There were so many things that Jaune didn't understand about those people like what were those weapons, the armor, the three creatures, those strange powers, who they were or even their true motives.

He had a feeling that this was something he'd need to ask Tava, Meidner or Kagiris as they were no doubt the top three individuals on the continent to talk with aside from his Aunt but he knew that was off the table as she was in Atlas custody.

"Say, where are my teammates?"

"Oh, uh, well I think they're supposed to be a part of the rear guard, though that red head came here a few times to check up on you." Avern said.

"I should have guessed that." Jaune said as he placed slowly placed Crocea Mors back on his belt. In the distance gunfire rippled out once before more of it followed like a tidal wave of crackles that seemed to overlap with each other.

"I guess Fuaráin's group getting hit again."

"Again?" Jaune asked as he gripped Crocea Mors.

"Yea, their Cavalry seems to be really intent on harassing us ever since sunset, I'd hope night would slow those fuckers down but I guess not."

"Why would they slow down? They've got us on the run and who knows what's going on with the rest of the battalion." Another voice said from nearby.

"If Wiscard doesn't send someone to us soon I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the Norsii get here." Someone said nearby and Jaune looked back into the dark occasionally seeing a flash or two. He sighed, as much as he wanted to go looking for the others he knew that it wasn't the right thing to do, his body ached and he honestly didn't think he'd be able to fight for long.

"Did Sgèin make it out?" Jaune asked after a little while remembering that Madeg has said the man was leading the rearguard at the Keep when they confronted the Mage Warrior.

"No, your group was the last ones to make it out, the blond girl with the big chest said that the Keep was taken out before they left." Aside from the apt description of what he guessed was Yang, Jaune frowned at hearing that, while Sgèin was a hard ass Jaune had liked the man in how serious he took his duty.

"So who's in charge?" Jaune asked.

"Well Lieutenant Pritchard from the Defensive Company is the highest ranking person alive but she's letting Sergeant Martin and Yren take the lead."

"Alright, do you know where we're heading then?"

"Well from what I've heard is that Wiscard's put the 2nd and 4th Companies out in a southern screen with two tank platoons assisting them. We're supposed to meet up with them then head on over to Center Valley Outpost where Wiscard is."

"Which doesn't make any sense to me; the Valkyries could have just picked us up instead." Another voice said from nearby.

"It's because we're being chased, we'd be forced to hold up in one area for the Valkyries to come and pick us up which would allow the enemy to encircle us. Even then we'd have to find an area for them to land in force to get all of us in one go if not whoever gets left behind is going to get swamped." Jaune reasoned and the other soldier just grunted as Avern chuckled.

"So how far are we from Wiscard and the rest of the battalion?" Jaune asked.

"I'm not sure actually." Avern said and Jaune hummed in response as he reached out to keep himself from walking into a tree. Somewhere behind him the brief thumps of explosions could be heard followed by the rattle of gunfire.

Jaune looked up at the night sky, it was clear of clouds and the stars shone brightly with a purplish blue smear the seemed to cut across the sky forever.

Jaune would have reckoned that it would be a lovely sight if he didn't keep seeing the dead bodies from the Outpost, the scent of blood filled his nostrils and he wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not.

He knew one thing though; more blood was going to be split before this was all over.

* * *

 **What? A new chapter so soon?**

 **Well dear reader that's because I cut this portion off from the previous chapter because it was taking longer than expected to finish.**

 **Now , I'm going to take the time to watch Volume 5 and 6 which I also hear is supposed to be the best Volume so far.**

 **So while I'm enjoying my animated delight please let me know in the Review Section or as a PM what you thought of the chapter or if there's something you dislike and would like me to fix or address whether it's an interaction or story idea/concept.**

 **I'm always open to discussing what people like or dislike about my story and clearing up any confusion that may transpire due to my inadequate writing skills.**

 **Anyways till next time...**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Pyrrha stumbled through the trees; daylight was just starting to creep over the horizon. Behind her Ren and Nora were not far behind with team RWBY somewhere off to their right.

In front of them was a sizable creek, according to some of the soldiers they weren't far from the Turin River which also meant they weren't far from the central outpost.

On the other side of the stream were more Arcadian soldiers and from what Pyrrha gathered was that they were apparently the reinforcements that are supposed to cover their retreat.

She wished though that they had simply come to them instead. As the three of them along with team RWBY had been a part of the Arcadian rearguard fighting in a number of skirmishes with the encroaching vanguard of the enemy or Norsii as she heard many of the Arcadians call them.

While Nora and Ren didn't seem to have a problem with it, Pyrrha found in that time that fighting the enemy was challenging. Though not in the traditional sense, she was training to be a Huntress, the shield against the dark yet she couldn't bring herself to strike out at the harassing cavalry as the others had.

It reminded her of what warrior from the Outpost had told her about her lack of conviction. Even Jaune had killed a number of men in that fight. Sure she probably crippled everyone she fought against during that time but she was fairly certain that she didn't intentional draw any blood.

Though she didn't know the feelings or thoughts from team RWBY but she suspected that the only others to have a qualm would be Ruby and Weiss. Even then she wasn't sure as Weiss seemed like she was more than able to come up with a rational explanation for this while Ruby she couldn't even come close to hazard a guess.

The young girl was even more idealistic than her so she might have similar troubles with it while at the same time she might have some weird ideal of a necessary evil.

At first she believed that it was the right thing to do regardless of how they were killing the Arcadians. As to her doing that would mean dropping to their level yet her friends did just that.

Then during the night more people died in the fighting but she still held herself back from killing any of them willingly. She didn't know how much longer she could justify it as it seemed like every hour someone else died that she might have been able to stop if she tried harder.

A part of her rationalized that Huntsmen and Huntresses also killed people but to her the option should still be avoided at all cost.

Yet even more telling was a part of her that told her not to become a murderer.

"Pyrrha?" Ren asked interrupting her thoughts and she looked at him. The magenta eyed teen looked exhausted but there was something about his eyes that spoke of a certain level of resolve that for some reason baffled her.

"Is there something you need?" She asked and he shook his head.

"Not really, I was just going to ask if you're doing alright."

"I'm fine Ren."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because it would be normal for you to not be fine Pyrrha, you've experienced something that very few people our age have ever experienced." Ren said as they looked around. Nearby was a stream and on the other side were more Arcadian soldiers who were helping them across.

"You say that but these people apparently fight like this all the time." Pyrrha said.

"That's true and it's both awe inspiring and terrifying." Ren said.

"It makes you wonder who would win in a stand up fight, Atlas or Arcadia." Nora said from the side and Pyrrha shuddered.

"I know it's something I wouldn't want to see."

"You think we should go find Jaune now?" Ren asked as the three of them stood there watching the soldiers cross the stream on top of a bridge of logs that looked to be freshly cut.

"Excuse me." Someone said and the three of them turned to see female soldier without a helmet on and Pyrrha couldn't help but notice the green scales around her neck.

"Yes?" Ren asked.

"Your presence has been requested."

"Requested by whom?" Ren asked.

"High Prince Arc." Pyrrha exchanged looks with Ren and Nora who gave her a wink.

"Take us to him."

* * *

 **Ten Minutes Later…**

The Beacons students approached a relatively small clearing. A number of soldiers were wrapping razor wire along most of the perimeter. The majority of them however were digging dozens of small holes into the ground at the base of a small hill.

As they reached the hill Pyrrha looked up to see a familiar figure sitting on a rock. Jaune had Crocea Mors on his lap as he rubbed what looked to be a rag over the blade.

Pyrrha felt a wave of relief flood her, she didn't realize how much stress was in her as she saw her partner alive and moving.

Though at the same time she couldn't help but think back to the look of agony on his face as he lay on the blood soaked ground after getting hit by that strange bolt of energy from the Mage Warrior as the other Arcadians had called him.

"Oh good you're not dead." Yang said as they reached Jaune.

"Thanks for the concern Yang." Jaune said dryly and the buxom blond put an arm around him.

"Think nothing of it; we blondes have to stick together." Yang said before squeezing Jaune's right bicep.

"Though I can think of some else we can do together." She said only to have Ruby come between them.

"That's gross Yang."

"What? I was gonna suggest we spar." She said.

"Yang, we're in the middle of the forest with an enemy army somewhere behind us that's fighting the Arcadians to the death. I don't think we have time for you to beat up Jaune, who might I add has already gotten beaten up badly." Weiss said placing her hands on her hips, the heiress unsurprisingly looked the least dirty out of everyone but Jaune couldn't help but note the darkening under her eyes from the lack of sleep.

Taking a second to look at all of them he could see that all of his friends looked exhausted, even Pyrrha and Yang looked like they were ready to fall over. He didn't say anything as they looked at each other.

"So, do you think you can fight?" Nora asked breaking the relative silence between the eight of them.

"I'm not sure, can you check for me? It seems my Scroll got busted when I got hit earlier." Jaune asked and Ren pulled out his own scroll.

"Well, the good news is your Aura isn't broken or if it was then it's already recovered but honestly Jaune you don't have a lot to work with at the moment." The magenta eyed teen said showing his scroll to Jaune, looking under his image Jaune could see that there was barely any red left in the bar.

Though Jaune could also see that after him Nora had the least amount of Aura as it was dark orange with Ren coming next and lastly Pyrrha who also had a noticeable portion missing.

"So what's the plan now?" Blake asked and the others nodded as well.

"Well, for one we're going to continue northward on Wiscard's orders while the 2nd and 4th start pulling back to draw them in. Supposedly three more companies were shifted out from under Major Hauck's push on the Grimm up north and are going to either help Wiscard defeat the Norsii or hold them in position until more units are deployed here."

"So what exactly is the plan to win this fight?" Yang asked and Jaune shrugged.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?" Blake asked and Jaune shrugged again.

"What do you want me to say? That we've got a full proof plan that will sweep the enemy off their feet before finishing them off before they even realize what hit them? Because that's not something I can do since I'm not in command here nor do I have any real military experience so I wouldn't trust myself to command these soldiers and lastly I'm a student of Beacon trying to become a Huntsman not a field commander of the kingdom of Arcadia." Jaune said and Blake held her hands up.

"Don't go snipping at me Jaune Arc; I'm not the one that's ignorant to my Kingdom's enemies." Before Jaune could say anything Pyrrha stepped in front of him.

"Jaune relax, she didn't mean anything by it." The tall red head said and narrowed her eyes at Blake who looked down at the ground before looking back at Jaune.

"I'm sorry Jaune." She said and Jaune slowly nodded.

"Blake its fine, we're all stressed out here; anyways I can say that we're not the only ones getting sent north. The 5th Company is in no shape to fight out in the open like this, the count is already in and there are only sixty of them left. So in a little bit there should be some Valkyries arriving to take us to the Central Outpost." Jaune explained and Ruby grimaced.

"As great as that sounds, I don't exactly relish the thought of being back within an Outpost here." The young girl said.

"I can't blame you but the Central Outpost is closer to a fort than anything else."

"You know, you say you don't know anything but here you are just spouting random facts like that." Yang said and Jaune rolled his eyes.

"Yang, Martin told us that same thing when we were at the Outpost." Ren said and Yang looked at her partner with confusion.

"Did she really tell us that?" She asked and Blake shrugged.

"Well to be fair, you four had already left the Outpost by that point." Pyrrha said and Yang just stood silently for a moment before shrugging.

"Meh."

"Come on, let's go find Martin." Jaune said as he turned around.

"High Prince." Someone called out and Pyrrha looked to her left to see a tall man in full armor watching them.

"Ah, Captain Sayer, what can I help you with?"

"I just came here to inform you that the Valkyries are on their way so get ready for dust off in ten." The Captain said before turning to walk away leaving the Beacon students standing there.

"So I guess we should just sit here?" Blake asked and no one said anything as they just sat down on the ground. Jaune noticed that the others didn't really pay much attention to the soldiers that continued working nor did they really pay much heed to the distant crackles of small arms fire in the forest.

A part of him realized that something in all of them had stripped away and for that he felt nothing but remorse.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Centurion Lais Tava stood nearby as Governor Kagiris went over the military report for a second time. Outside of the building, the capital of the Hurin Valleys was abuzz with activity at the news that the Archenemy had been not only spotted but also how they put the 13th Brigade's forces in a tight spot in the western valley.

In keeping with her duty she now stood silently behind the Governor, her claymore held point down while four of her Comitatus Praetorians stood in each corners of the room.

Outside the other sixteen Legionaries protected the immediate hallway along with the floors both above and below where the Governor was located. In addition she had ordered the building's Variegatum Company to be in full kit for additional security.

"Fucking damn it." Kagiris snapped as he threw the data slate across the room only to shatter against a wall.

"How the fuck did they sneak up on us?" Kagiris snapped looking around the room. Lore, Mir, Verdot and Major Rappiot representing Meidner who was still in Toutatis monitoring the battle stood before the upset Governor. Along with his assistant, Aina, the quiet girl stood beside Tava.

"I thought we had Irkalla under control? There shouldn't have been any way for an enemy force to make it through the Northern Provinces let alone given the chance to construct a fucking fleet to land on Sanus without someone noticing."

"Sir, if I may say something." Rappiot said and Kagiris waved away.

"Just spit it out already."

"Yes sir, well, it might be a possible that during the initial stages of fighting that the Host was able to break off a smaller force that went east till they found the coast. Plus in those earlier days the other Northern Provinces were contending with Grimm skirmishes which would have kept long range reconnaissance patrols from spotting them traveling."

"That's not entirely implausible but judging by what Meidner is saying there has to be at least four to five thousand of them. With a force like that they would have had to stop and raid in order to get the supplies which means they would have needed to be raiding supply depots or small towns to get the needed materials which should have put them on someone's auspex." Kagiris said after a moment's thought.

"Wait, didn't the 9th Brigade report that they had encountered Norsii just south of the Vacuoan Desert attacking Outland towns? Those towns would have given ample supplies to them." Verdot ask chiming in for the first time since arriving.

"I read that report from Karsidottir and while that's true there's a catch to that. The report wasn't that long ago, the time it would take to have gotten that far south let alone be here at this time from the initial date on that report means that either they have another means of travel outside the norms of reality or someone else is helping them." Mir countered.

"So what I'm hearing is that they're traveling by some abnormal method which to me would suggest one of three things. First there are other rifts that are now emerging throughout Remnant, second they have a Sorcerer that's allowing them to jump from place to place and last but not least one of the Four Kingdoms has somehow been tainted." Lore finally said and Kagiris ran a hand through his hair.

"So you're telling me that now only do I have a Grimm horde to deal but now a Norsii attack with either access to a network of portals throughout Remnant, a Sorcerer, or one of the Four Kingdoms has fallen. Fuck me in the ass guys, we can figure this one out later. Rappiot what does Meidner have in mind with dealing with this cluster fuck?" Kagiris asked and the obviously nervous Major cleared his throat.

"Well sir, the plan as far as I'm aware of at this point is to redeploy Wiscard's Battalion to handle this threat along his southern flank while maintaining a hold on the remaining two Outposts. With the Grimm still not broken in the northern ranges he's hoping to either buy himself enough time for the Air Force to not only defeat the Grimm as Hauck pins them in but resupply and rearm in time to provide overwhelming air support for units engaging the Norsii."

"Okay but why has Meidner pulled three whole companies out from under Major Haucks? If Hauck is supposed to pin the Grimm down long enough for the Air Force to bomb the shit out of them how is he going to do that with less than half his battalion?"

"Well, in truth, there's a catch to the plan. Hauck brought this up during the initial planning of this strategy that the most surefire way to draw the Grimm in was to put the initial Battalion in a difficult state prior to the start of the operation thus by rapidly reducing the force in question this would put the remaining troops on edge thus giving the Grimm their main source to hone in on. Originally this was to be done by splitting the battalion up by having three companies put off to the sides with the excuse that they were only to engage anything that was trying to flee from the bombardment. Though now with the Norsii incursion Meidner and Hauck now have a legitimate reason to tell his Battalion about why they were losing three of their companies at the last moment before deploying against the Grimm." Rappiot explained and Kagiris just watched before opening a drawer from which he pulled out a cigar.

"So, what you're telling me is that." He began as he lighted the cigar up then took a deep drag.

"You're all fucking crazy. Who else knew about this?" Kagiris asked and Rappiot shrugged.

"All the Battalion Commanders and their seconds though they were given liberty to discuss this with any of their Company Captains since Meidner had said that any of the battalions could be in that situation later down the line if it worked."

"Do you realize how fucked up that sounds? If it wasn't for the situation we were in now I would have Tava drag Meidner in here to explain what the fuck she's thinking."

"Sir, with all due respect." Rappiot began but Kagiris slammed a hand down on his desk rattling the contents on top interrupting the Major.

"Let me finish damn it." No one said again at that moment as Kagiris leaned back in his chain rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"If word somehow leaked out that Hauck's battalion was about to be essentially put up as a meaty bait for the Grimm to gnaw on, I'm willing to bet that a decent amount of the soldiers would probably protest or in some fringe cases rebel. You have to remember that they're not all like the diehard veterans of the 1st Army or loyal lunatics like Karsidottir has on her leash. Forget about those that have a shared ancestry with Arcadia as that doesn't mean the goals of everyone else within the Hurin Valleys align with ours." Kagiris sighed once as he leaned back in his chair.

"Look, I've had enough of this; I want all of you to be on top of your shit. So that means keeping me informed about anything that pops up on your radar or if you decide to do some crazy military strategy as I've got enough problems on my table as it is. Rappiot tell Meidner that she's to see me at her earliest convenience. Now get out of my sight." Tava watched as the four of them left the room, as soon as the door was closed Kagiris started to curse softly to himself but her helmet was able to pick up the words easily enough before he spun around in his chair to face her.

"Well then, let's talk about your request."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jaune held onto a strap as he stood on the lowered back ramp of the Valkyrie, several hundred feet to the south a cluster of explosions boomed out as the withdrawing Infantry Companies let ripped with their planted explosives.

He didn't know how many they got with that trap but he didn't doubt that it bloodied the nose of the Norsii advance. A part of him still felt oddly uncomfortable with that term, something about it seemed to make his ears ring.

"And here I thought they were gonna stand and fight them." Pyrrha said loudly from behind him as she slowly moved next to him making sure to keep a hand on the strap that the rear gunner had handed to her.

"I'm glad they're moving away from this, there weren't enough of them to hold a proper defense against Norsii. Remember what we saw at the Outpost? There had to be more than a thousand of them and considering how quick they caught up to us I wouldn't be surprised if there were other groups waiting beyond our sight amongst the trees when we broke out from the Outpost." Jaune replied before looking over his shoulder as the gunner tapped his arm.

"Sir! We're closing the ramp; I need you to step back." He called out, Jaune and Pyrrha both moved back as the ramp began to close. A small strip of interior lights turned on bathing the group with pale light. Aside from the Beacon students there was an Arcadian squad that was seated across from them.

Sitting down Jaune looked across from himself to see the soldiers were almost entirely asleep, though he didn't really blame them. As far as he was aware, none of them had gotten any sleep save for himself when he was unconscious.

Inspecting the soldiers visually Jaune could see that they were in various states of appearance. The most intact looking of them merely had some dirt and faint scratches on his armor. Going down the line the dirt and scratches became bolder with rustic stains on their armor or clothes which Jaune was able to identify as dried blood.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice cut once more across his thoughts and he looked at her. The pale red head was watching him with her vivid green eyes and Jaune had to shake his head a little to remember that she seemed to want something.

"Yea?"

"I haven't really asked how you've been feeling since our fight in the Outpost." She said and Jaune looked down at his hands. They were covered in grime and dried blood though Jaune was certain that it wasn't his.

"I know it must have been tough." Pyrrha began and Jaune chuckled softly.

"Pyrrha, I don't think I'm the only one that had a hard time during this. You were carrying that fight for me and even then the others had just as difficult fights if not harder. Look at Yang, she lost her Aura and has a bandage across her midriff, half a centimeter more and she would have been gutted instantly."

"Yea okay but that doesn't mean I can't ask you how you're doing."

"No but that doesn't mean I can't ask why you're so intent on asking me."

"What do you want from me Jaune? I'm trying to be a good friend and partner here."

"Which I appreciate but please Pyrrha, I just don't want to talk about it. There are so many things that have or are happening that I can barely get my head around."

"I know that's why I wanted to talk to you."

"Look if you're trying to see if I have any answers to what's going on all I can say is what I've been saying forever. Which is I don't actually know what's going on."

"That's fine; I accept that but that doesn't mean I don't want to know what you do know."

"That's a little bit harder to explain but fine, I'll play along, let's talk. First the Creatures of Grimm were seen advancing from the west towards the Hurin Valleys in numbers that had Army worried about. Right?"

"Right and the Arcadians seemed to have been able to handle the threat pretty well."

"Yet from what from what I was able to discern they were completely caught off guard not once but twice. They didn't expect such a larger force in the first place then they were surprised when they appeared so close to the Outposts." Jaune said and Pyrrha nodded.

"Right I get that but what about what happens afterwards."

"And that's where it gets tricky, it seems as if everyone here is fully aware who and what sort of foe we're fighting against."

"Like, I'm not surprised that these, Norsii, have melee weapons as that's something we have as well. Yet despite the apparent difference in the sort of technology both sides were using it seemed as if their weapons and armor were a match. The plate armored warriors apparently can withstand a decent amount of small arms fire and even taking a hit or two by the likes of Nora or Yang."

"Plus, it seems that none of them have Aura."

"That's true none of them had their Aura unlocked yet they didn't seem baffled when they fought against the soldiers with their Aura unlocked from Madeg's company or us for that matter."

"Do you think it has to do with their leader? He didn't have Aura but it appears that he's got more than one semblance."

"That's something I don't know Pyrrha, that's the end of whatever I can think of rationally."

"Well, then where do you think those monsters came from? They couldn't have been Grimm right?"

"No, I think they're something else entirely. I remember that someone said Neverborn when they appeared."

"So what are they?"

"I don't know but that's something I hope to discuss with either Meidner or Kagiris."

"What are you two youngsters talking about?" Nora asked leaning into view from the other side of Pyrrha.

"Just recapping the events I guess." Jaune said and the short hammer wielder nodded.

"That's cool but did she tell you about how I single handily saved the day?"

"Uh, well, I, uh, no, she didn't." Nora narrowed her eyes at Pyrrha.

"That's pretty rude."

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said as she looked down and Nora punched Pyrrha's arm.

"Sheesh Pyrrha, I was just kidding."

"Oh."

"I don't know who's worse at jokes, you or Weiss."

"Hey!" The white hair girl cried out in indignation but Nora ignored her.

"So, how long do you think it'll take for us to win?" Ruby asked as she leaned forward from her seat.

"Bah, don't you kids worry about it, once the battalion rallies we'll be able to deal with this incursion in no time." A tanned skin soldier said but Jaune didn't recognize him.

"Fanach, how many times have I told you not to say stuff like that." Another soldier called out further down the line.

"Ah come on Noluen, name one time that something bad has happened when I've said that."

"Weren't you on a Valkyrie that suffered major mechanical failure earlier this year?" Someone else called out.

"Yea but we were already about to start landing when that happened so really it just sped that up."

"I don't think that's a good thing." Blake commented and Fanach dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

"It was totally fine."

"I'm pretty sure the pilots were in traction for like three months or something."

"Sure but didn't one of them get engaged to a nurse at the hospital?"

"I don't see the relevance of that."

"That's because you didn't get invited to the wedding."

"Well neither did you."

"I'm fine with that, my handiwork in setting them up was all that I needed to concern myself with."

"Anyone else lost by this conversation?" Yang asked and another soldier chuckled.

"You'll get used to it." The conversation as a whole dropped away as they either went back to sleep or just sat there talking to each other.

Pyrrha didn't know how long they were in there but it felt like the trip was a short one as the moment she closed her eyes she was nudged awake by Jaune just in time to notice the shift in pressure as the Valkyrie began to descend.

"I feel like I just was about to close my eyes." She said and Jaune smiled.

"Well you were asleep for a good ten minutes." He said and Pyrrha nodded as the Valkyrie jerked upon contact with the ground. Standing up with the others Pyrrha walked out of the aircraft and shielded her eyes as the sun was now visible in the sky.

They were in a field once again with dozens of other Valkyries either on the ground or flying overhead. She could smell smoke, oil, sweat, and something metallic in the air as the group headed away from their Valkyrie.

Nearby the other remaining soldiers of the 5th Company joined them as they headed towards higher ground and Pyrrha finally noticed the large structure on a hill a few miles north of them.

Unlike the South Valley Outpost, this fortification seemed to be mostly built out of stone or concrete and was definitely bigger.

"If the Outpost is up there, why are we here?" Pyrrha asked looking at Jaune.

"I guess it's because Wiscard's forming up most of the Battalion here so there might not be enough room to accommodate this many Valkyries."

"That seems like an oversight, a smart opponent would have a clear shot at taking out a lot of the Arcadian aerial units in one go." Weiss said and Jaune glanced at her.

"What? I'm not an idiot." She said and Jaune held his hands up.

"I didn't say that."

"You had that look on your face."

"What look?"

"The moronic kind."

"Show me."

"I wouldn't know how to." Weiss said and Nora snorted with laughter.

"Doesn't that make you the moron since you can't imitate a face?"

"I don't see how that's funny." Pyrrha looked around ignoring the group as they joked amongst themselves. She could see more of the Arcadians crowding around a column of six wheeled open back trucks. Some of the soldiers were guiding the trucks over to the waiting Valkyries while other soldiers hopped on the trucks before they started gathering together.

As the soldiers of the 5th Company grouped up on a dirt trail they formed a column three people wide and twenty ranks deep. The Beacon group moved behind them as Martin had them begin marching.

Looking around Pyrrha could see that the clearing they were in was in fact pin by trees to their north and south. Yet to their east and west the clearing stretched out for a while before curving out of sight.

It wasn't long before they reached the tree line, it turned out that the trees were purposely picked then cleared as it was only about thirty or forty yards before they reached the other side.

Yet she had an inkling that this was done on purpose as the first line of trees they had gone through she had seen soldiers digging up the ground then setting odd looking devices in them before covering them with dirt.

As they walked towards the second line of threes she also noticed that the filed had a number of craters each of various sizes dotted the ground, some looked fresh while others look like they've been there long enough for grass to grow in them.

Once they passed through the second tree line they finally reached the last stretch of road to the Outpost Pyrrha noticed two things immediately, the first being a few hundred soldiers with a few dozen Chimeras and at least fifteen tanks were idling in the field before the walls of the Outpost.

Of which if she had to guess the stone walls had to be nearly fifteen meters high. When they got close enough to the wall they stopped and she looked at what she assumed was the main gate that looked to be made out of metal but she could also clearly see that the Grimm must have attacked it in force successfully as it was bent unnaturally inward.

A small group of soldiers stood outside the gate however as if they were waiting for them, a tall man with silver hair that stood with them stepped forward.

"Good to see you Sergeant." The man said and Martin who had been ahead of them cracked a confused smile.

"Jodok? When did you get here?" She asked.

"I got here just now but Wiscard's already had his marching orders ready for everyone, it seems he's impatient to meet our special guests." The man said before gesturing to a soldier that stood off to the side.

"Kanna, show 5th Company to their quarters." The man looked over towards the Beacon group before zeroing in on Jaune then looked back at Martin.

"Is that him?"

"It must be important if the Major wants to see the High Prince." Martin said as she nodded and Jodok shrugged.

"Probably but he also wants to see all of them."

"Let me guess, I'm not invited." Martin said and Jodok smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Martin but whatever that's going on is way above my pay grade."

"It normally is but thanks, let me go talk with the High Prince then I'll send them your way." Martin said and the man nodded as she turned to head back to the group.

"Who is that?" Ruby asked as Martin approached them.

"That's First Captain Jodok Mézec, second in command of the Battalion under Major Wiscard; his Company was with Sayer's Company out in the forest." She explained, Ruby opened and closed her mouth with a finger raised as if to make a point about something then shrugged.

"Yea that sounds important." Martin laughed.

"It is and it seems this is also where we're going to be parting."

"Wait, why?" Weiss asked and Martin gestured with a thumb over her shoulder towards Mézec.

"He's got orders to bring you all to the Major and I'm not needed for that." Martin said as she ran a hand over her hair.

"Honestly at this point I wouldn't be surprised if 5th Company gets folded into 1st Company to fill up their own gaps since they got hit by the Grimm harder than us."

"Did he tell you what the Major wants with us?" Ren asked but Martin shook her head.

"If I needed to know they would have told me but it seems that I don't need to know so your guess is as good as mine."

"Well then, I guess this is goodbye." Jaune said sticking his hand out and Martin looked at it as if unsure whether or not she should take it before finally grasping it.

"It was a pleasure High Prince." She said and Jaune gave her his own weary smile.

"The pleasure was mine Sergeant Martin." He said and they watched as Martin walked towards another soldier before heading inside the Outpost. As the other soldiers left them, the group walked up to the waiting man who saluted them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, as you may already been informed by Sergeant Martin my name is Jodok Mézec, I'm here to escort you all to Major Wiscard. We've got a tight schedule to keep so let's get going, if you have any question you may ask them along the way." He said before turning away to walk inside the Outpost without waiting for a confirmation from the Beacon students.

As they followed him however they could see that immediately inside the Outpost that it was just as different in its layout as well as material. There was the first wall which they already passed through but it was interesting to note that it had to be at least ten meters thick however there seemed to be a second wall that was taller than the first with small bridges that connected at spaced out intervals along both walls.

Right behind the second wall was what seemed to be a castle like structure that was more or less connected with the second wall.

"This place is massive." Yang said as they followed Mézec.

"It has to be almost twice the size of the first year dormitories." Blake speculated.

"To answer your questions, the Vestri Outpost has an outer perimeter of roughly two hundred and fifty meters with the inner wall and castle being about a hundred and twenty five meters in its perimeter. As for the occupants, the Outpost has room for three full infantry companies, a full tank company, and three flights of Valkyries or Vultures on top of the 205th Defensive Company which is stationed here." Mézec explained.

"Look Captain that's fascinating but I was wondering if you could tell us what this is all about." Jaune asked but Mézec didn't answer him right away that Jaune thought he was just going to ignore the question.

"You know very well what this is going to be about High Prince."

"I can guess but I can't really say for sure what it might be going on in the mind of Major Wiscard."

"Then by all means guess."

"There's a few ways that this could go, one he might give us command of a small unit either to defend the Outpost or to join in as he stages a counterattack if not that then he might pull us completely out of the fight."

"What makes you think that?" Pyrrha asked looking at Jaune who shrugged.

"I mean, aside from my own position within Arcadia there still is the fact that we're technically representatives of Beacon which by extension represents Vale and the Four Kingdoms as a whole. So having us exposed for that long to the dangers of a battlefield, one that we shouldn't have been in the first place isn't going to be a good thing plus Fusia died out there so that might complicate things even more. Then with my Aunt being arrested in Vale for covert operations within another sovereign Kingdom without permission means that there is going to be a serious strain on the diplomatic lines between the Four Kingdoms and Arcadia which are now going to be opened about that."

"Ya know I swear this is Déjà vu." Nora said to Ren and the magenta eyed teen just shrugged.

"You make an astute point High Prince but in the end you'll just have to wait to find out." Mézec said as they reached another gate. Like the first one this was made of metal and Jaune could see dozens of scratch mark that had left shallow furrows in its dark surface. With a groan the metal gate parted and the group headed inside.

Pyrrha was reminded of the mountain fortification as they walked through the corridors of concrete. Inbuilt wall lights gave off a pale light showing the numerous pipes and wiring that traveled along the upper corners of the ceiling. Arrows and other markings indicating sections or rooms that had no real meaning to her as armed soldiers navigated the corridors with practiced familiarity.

When they emerged into yet another corridor Pyrrha could see in the far end that there was a single set of stairs with two soldiers in full gear standing guard on either side. As they walked up to them, the soldiers saluted as they headed up the stairs.

Passing through one final door Jaune could see that they were in a rather austere room with a metal desk at the far end next to a window that had bars on the outside. In the center was a table with a glass like surface, then a weapon rack on the right side of the room with three different variants of the Agripinaa Infantry rifle.

Standing by the window however was an older man, much older looking than even Mézec with a balding buzz cut head with lines that looked like a cross between aging wrinkles and scars.

"Captain." The man said without looking at them in low but still powerful voice and Mézec snapped a crisp salute.

"Major, I've brought you the Beacon group." The man looked at them and Jaune met the cold winter blue eyes that shone brightly in spite of his apparent age.

"You're dismissed Captain."

"Yes sir." Mézec said before walking back through the door they had come from.

"I know what you're wondering, why has the Battalion Commander to an Arcadian Brigade called for you when he's got the enemy at his doorstep." He said calmly as he walked around the table to them. Yang narrowed her eyes however as she noticed something, the man seemed to be walking oddly.

As he came closer however that's when the group realized something, every step he took there was a soft buzz of machinery. Jaune, Ren, Weiss and Blake kept their eyes on him as the others instinctually looked down at the source of the sound.

"I see you've noticed my, how do they say, condition." The man said with the signs of a smile on his lips.

"It's nice to meet you Major Wiscard and yes we've noticed that you've seen some action." Jaune said hesitantly and the man nodded.

"Indeed, I was serving with the 1st Army's 12th Division under Major General Lutherius during the Incursion of '55." Jaune frowned as he tried to recall his reading under Areto but Ruby spoke up in the meantime.

"So are you going to explain why you wanted us here?" She asked and Wiscard nodded.

"Ah that, well, I would have assigned you command of the 5th Company but orders have come down the line regarding you all, Governor Kagiris is ordering your withdrawal from the fight."

"What?" Yang asked looking confused.

"You're heading back to Nodens." Wiscard said looking at the blonde brawler.

"I know that but why." She said and Wiscard shrugged.

"Not my place to question the orders of a Governor and I would in fact send you right now if I could but I would rather hold onto as many aircraft as I can. So someone should be here in an hour or so to retrieve you."

"Who's coming?" Jaune asked and Wiscard looked at him.

"I think we both know who he'd send to retrieve you." Jaune rubbed his chin.

"Centurion Tava, she'll definitely make sure to follow her orders then." Wiscard nodded as he turned to walk towards the table in the center of the room before tapping it. The surface erupted in a green glow before holographic projection of the Outpost and the immediate surrounding area popped up.

"Is that a Hard Light table?" Weiss asked stepping forward and Wiscard tilted his head a little as the Heiress inspected the holographic display of the Outpost. It was extremely detailed showing simple things such as grass to the heavy weapon platforms on the walls.

She reached out and as her hand came close to one section of the wall her hand was bathed in a green glow as that particular section fuzzed away. That's when she noticed that the glassy surface of the table was covering layers of tiny green light sources.

"Interesting." She mused as Ruby joined in her fascination, as the two fawned over the table Jaune walked up besides Major Wiscard.

"So what are you going to have us do until Tava arrives? Are you going to force us inside while the Norsii attack?" He looked Jaune squarely in the eyes, while he wasn't as tall as Jaune he still had a commanding presence that made Jaune want to look down.

"Governor Kagiris would like that and maybe even Brigadier General Meidner but I'm already short on manpower with 5th Company being combat ineffective at the moment so I won't confine you to your quarters but I can't take you out into the field as well as that would be directly defying my orders."

"And I understand that but what plan do you have?" Wiscard touched a control on the side of the table and the holographic map expanded to show a long stretch of the forest near the Outpost. Several dozen red blips spread out in a semicircle popped up.

"These are the known locations of the Norsii force, each one represents anywhere from three to eight hundred bodies. Right now in Vestri, I've got a little more than five hundred soldiers with another three hundred of the Defensive Company. Then there's the three tank platoons at my disposal, two standard formations and a Tempest Platoon with the Actaeon Platoon still coming southbound from the north but they won't be here for a few hours still. However I expect we'll have engaged them long before they arrive."

"Wait, strike them? As in go out and attack?" Blake asked but Wiscard didn't look at her as he centered the image back on Vestri."

"More like a counter attack, I want to draw them in first, during the initial moments I believe their advance will be overstretched drastically for a short bit before they reach Vestri as you may not have noticed this but the main gate was destroyed in the Grimm attack, more than a dozen Death Stalkers had charged it and we managed to kill nine of them but the rest were more than enough to break the gate that even if we tried closing it there would be a hole big enough for a Sicaran tank to roll through. Which on that note we don't have any since Hoffman's platoon were all killed though fifteen tanks seems like a sizable force to hold off a large portion of the Norsii infantry."

"And I would agree with you Major as this seems like a well thought out plan but we know that they have creatures that stopped Hoffman's Sicarans in their tracks." Jaune pointed out as he circled the table examining the hologram.

"Ah yes, the Neverborn, how many did you see out in the field?"

"We saw three of them but before you go on can you tell us what those things were? I've never seen anything like them, there was just something off about them, I can't explain what but it seems you Arcadians know what they are." Ren said as he stood at one corner of the table with Nora next to him.

"I shouldn't be the one to explain this to you, the High Prince here should know more than me in either case." Wiscard said nodding to Jaune.

"I'm afraid I'm just as in the dark as they are Major Wiscard." Wiscard looked visibly confused at that.

"My father never told me much about the Kingdom, everything I did learn was only introduced a few months before I came to Beacon." Wiscard didn't say anything at first before finally nodding though Jaune wasn't sure if he was nodding to himself or to Jaune's response.

"Well then, that's a discussion you'll be having with someone much more important than me at some point soon." He said and Jaune tilted his head a little at that but ignored it as Wiscard turned off the display.

"Well, I believe it's time to end this little get together, I've met a High Prince for the first time in my life so I'd say that this was rather productive." Wiscard said gesturing for them towards the door that they had come in.

"Wait a second, you haven't told us what we'll be doing. We can at least help; let us join with 5th Company again in the field." Yang said stepping next to Jaune but Wiscard shook his head.

"I am not putting the 5th Company back out into the field with the other companies, they're been beaten enough already."

"You can't do this." Ruby began but Wiscard glowered at her shutting the young girl up.

"Do not dare tell me what I can or cannot do young lady." Weiss held a hand up.

"Major Wiscard, forgive the impetuous of my team leader but we're all fighters and knowing that we could fight but being told that we cannot stand with you and your men as they fight for their lives sits ill with us." The young heiress said though Wiscard's facial expression did not change as he directed his gaze at her.

"Willingness to fight is a valuable thing in a soldier but knowing your own limitations is just as important."

"And limitations are merely mental barriers that people tell themselves when they seeing something they believe is impossible when in truth it's not." Yang countered.

"Arrogance and pride is the downfall to more warriors and soldiers than an enemy's blade." Wiscard said evenly then waved away any other response that they had as he walked back the barred window.

"Mézec will be waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs with orders to take you to your temporary quarters. Now if you excuse me I have a battle to prepare for." Wiscard said as he looked back out the window, Jaune gestured for them to away and the eight of them headed back out the room then down the stairs.

"I can't believe this." Yang said.

"There's nothing we can do." Weiss said from behind the blonde girl.

"Well that's not necessarily true." She said and Jaune glanced over his shoulder at them.

"If you're referring back to your escapade in the forest before the attack on the South Outpost, I'm gonna say that's a stupid idea."

"I wasn't gonna suggest something like that."

"Right."

"Guys, honestly, I'm kind of okay with this." Blake said from the back of the group.

"Really?" Weiss asked and the black hair Faunus girl nodded.

"The Arcadians aren't exactly incapable. The South Outpost was only a disaster because they didn't expect to be attacked by another force aside from the Grimm. We saw how they handle the Grimm attack, can you imagine how screwed we would have been if even a fraction of that number came at just the eight of us? We'd be dead."

"I wouldn't say that but I agree they didn't actually need us." Weiss said.

"What about that sparky guy?" Nora asked.

"I mean, you looked like you got a decent hit in before we got out, I doubt he'll be in the fight if he didn't already die from his injuries." Blake said.

"Well that makes sense but I think it kind of feels anticlimactic that we won't be a part of something that we've experienced from the onset." Nora said.

"Sometimes in life you won't be able to see everything to the end, sometimes, the end happens long after you're gone." Pyrrha said softly and Jaune glanced at her but didn't comment on what she said as they reached the bottom of the stairs where Mézec waited for them.

"Ah, you guys are done, what did Major Wiscard talk with ya'll about?" Mézec asked and Ruby shrugged.

"Well, we're gonna sit out this fight but at least we might get a good seat for it." She explained and Mézec nodded.

"Makes sense to me."

"Does it?" Weiss asked.

"I mean, I don't think I could blame him, he's got his orders." Jaune said and Mézec nodded as they walked through the corridors.

"That's right and a good soldier follows orders."

"Really now? I'd imagine that would be a little oppressive wouldn't it?" Pyrrha asked and Mézec shook his head.

"It's easy to think that because in some cases it might very well be true however more often than not a great deal of combat leaders don't care how you do something as long as the objective is taken with the least possible amount of casualties. Though that doesn't mean they aren't prepared to use the lives of their soldiers to defend, take, or complete their objective." The older man said as he led them down another series of unfamiliar corridors. When they finally emerged into a large room that had beds set across one wall with a few tables and lockers to either side that Jaune realized that this was where they would probably be waiting until Tava came to retrieve them.

"Alright, I'll have a runner come soon with some food and beverages in a little bit. Showers are to your right and there's laundry room next to it." Mézec said as they spread out save for Jaune who took a step closer to the man with his hand held out.

"Thank you First Captain." Jaune said as the man gripped his hand.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you sir." Mézec said then pulled Jaune in closer.

"We'll be moving out soon to engage the Norsii if you want to watch, go the southwestern Hydra tower if you get lost just ask someone to give you directions, you'll be able to see the fighting from up there." The man said softly and Jaune nodded as they separated. Mézec saluted him one last time which Jaune returned as he left them. Turning around Jaune could see his friends all spread out on individual bunks.

Ruby, Yang, Ren and Nora were already sleeping as Weiss tended to her own dirty clothes as she talked to herself. Blake was sitting on an empty bed looking at the floor as Jaune walked up next to Pyrrha who was tending to her weapons.

As she looked up at him, Jaune couldn't help but notice the obvious dark bags under Pyrrha's green eyes. It only served to remind him that out of the eight of them he was the only one to truly get some semblance of rest within the last twenty four hours before now.

"You should get some sleep." Jaune said and Pyrrha smiled as she set her weapons aside.

"True but I don't really feel like sleeping at the moment." She said as Jaune took the belt holding Crocea Mors off and set it on the bed opposite of her. The two of them sat next to each other, Jaune looked at his shoes while Pyrrha continued cleaning her weapons.

They sat there for who knows how long but Jaune looked up at the sound of a door opening, turning his head he saw a soldier with Dog ears on the top of his head pushing a cart into the room. Jaune stood up and moved over to the soldier who saluted him as Jaune came close.

"Sir, First Captain Mézec sent me here with food and drinks." The soldier said before gesturing to the various containers on the cart.

"I was able to procure some leftovers from the main mess; we've got eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, some toast, a few oranges and apples. Then for refreshments there's milk, juice and water though I took the liberty in scrounging some instant coffee packs and a few nondairy creamers that you can use with the water since there's also a camp stove to heat the water up. Then of course some plates, paper napkins and utensils." He said before looking at Jaune who nodded as he held a hand out.

"Thanks soldier."

"It's not a problem High Prince."

"So what unit are you with?"

"I'm with the 205th Defensive Company, is there anything else you need?" He asked but Jaune shook his head so he took his leave. Jaune stood staring at the cart before looking back at his friends none of them were really making a move to come and eat so he pushed the cart closer to them.

"There's food here, you should all get some to eat or drink." Jaune said and Weiss looked at him.

"I'm not sure if I have the stomach to eat right now." She said but surprisingly Blake stepped forward to grab a slice of bacon before shoving the entire piece into her mouth.

"He's right; we need to keep our energy up so we should eat on top of resting." She said so Weiss and Pyrrha who hadn't said anything stood up then grabbed plates before piling as much food as they could on them.

"Jaune aren't you going to eat as well?" Weiss asked and Jaune shook his head.

"I had an MRE earlier."

"Are you sure?" She asked but at that moment the others began to stir as well.

"Oh shit, when'd that get here?" Nora asked as she made her way over with Yang, Ren, and Ruby behind her. Jaune watched as his friends ate silently and for some reason felt a little left out. He decided he needed to go out and grabbed Crocea Mors before heading to the door.

"Where are you going Jaune?" Pyrrha called out and he looked over his shoulder to see the others looking at him now.

"I'm gonna get some fresh air, I'll be back soon." In truth he wanted to go find the tower Mézec had mentioned as he felt the need to watch the upcoming battle nag at his mind.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

The Sorcerer watched as several dozen Marauders moved through the open clearing between the lines of trees with three lines of his plated Warriors in step behind them, as he looked around he couldn't help but feel a stark resemblance to the lands of Gisoreux.

To either side of him nearly four and a half thousand Marauders, Warriors and Knights were spreading out into three groups. To his far left were his three Marauder Jarls, Ragzask the Blood Bathed, Tryzze Shadoweater and Nhikka the Serpent Tongue who led the bulk of Norsii Marauders.

Originally he had seven Jarls under his command but three of them had died in skirmishes with the Arcadian infantry while Stryzon Bloodcaller died after the Arcadian rearguard had unleashed some sort of spell or device that killed nearly four hundred Marauders and Warriors earlier that morning.

To his right he had Akerba moving back south with eight hundred Warriors and the last few hundred Knights in his army. In the center he had over a thousand Warriors, two hundred Marauders, along Az'gelloth but the Spawn was becoming more uncontrollable by the hour lastly he had a little less than two dozen Hellcannons.

Yet he felt unnerved, not by the enemy beyond the trees but by omens. Everywhere he looked in the corner of his vision something seemed to flicker, now he was no stranger to being watched by those that dwell beyond but something about this was different.

A part of him felt as if he should take a step back to think yet he knew that if he couldn't dislodge the grip the enemy had on this valley he would be forced to fight them from a weak position whereas they have the defending advantage.

"Master, the Marauders are waiting for your orders to advance through the tree line." Ukxorkart said as he knelt down before him, the Sorcerer said nothing as he let ethereal energy crackle down his arm as a small sign of strength. He knew that Ukxorkart was still nursing his pride after he had brought the Warrior to his knees when he inquired about his supposed injures. He knew too well that had he not done so Ukxorkart may have tried killing him.

"Send the signal to the others to begin their advance I want to cut off any breathing room that they might have had early." He said and Ukxorkart nodded before getting up to move away from him. The sound of thousands of booted and sabaton feet marching in relative step sent a wave of elation down his spine.

If he only had a third of this force when he took residence in the Forest of Arden before he was driven out by the Errants then he knew he would have done some serious damage to those blasted Southerners.

At that moment a flash of ice passed down his spine as a terrible pressured built in his mind he summoned power to him before bringing forth a shield and far ahead of him a series of thunderous explosions ripped across the clearing making cloaks and eight pointed sigils flap in the warm wind.

From the distant hill fortification series of soft booms could be heard, though the Sorcerer knew what was coming as thunderous detonations of explosions blossomed amongst the ranks of his forces.

A handful of explosions ripped up the ground nearby, destroying two of the Hellcannons. Broke bodies and debris showered his shield but as it cleared away he dropped only to point at the distant foe.

"Charge!" He shouted a roar broke out from amongst the ranks as thousands of eager blood thirsty Norsii charged forward.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Jaune stood next to several soldiers as they peered over the crenellations of one of the taller drum towers in the Outpost. Behind him was a fully loaded Hydra Anti-Air gun with its quad barrels pointed at the sky.

He only managed to get to the tower after running into a pair of soldiers that were pushing a cart laden with munitions that Jaune figured were meant for the wall guns.

"Fucking shit man; those assholes really want us dead." One of the crew members muttered as they watched as the first tree line slowly was engulfed in fire. Yet despite that more and more of the enemy were pouring through heedless of the flames.

A dozen Lancer Field Guns and nearly twice that many Serpent Infantry Guns that resided on the western side of the Outpost were shelling the oncoming enemy at a steady rate as they advanced. Jaune however knew that the guns on the north and south side of the Outpost were firing as well since they saw the enemy splitting their forces up earlier.

"They're about to hit the second line." Someone said and Jaune peered over the crenellations again just in time to see the last tree ring erupt in a series of explosions once more as a significant portion of the leading enemy moved into its confines.

It didn't occur till he arrived at the tower that when they had passed through those trees earlier that they were in fact placing mines instead of setting up defensive positions to fight from.

As in the field just outside the walls of the Vestri Outpost was the 1st, 2nd, 4th Infantry Companies with fifteen tanks along with two dozen Chimera Transports and a dozen Tauros Rapid Assault Vehicles.

Jaune knew that while they couldn't match the attackers with force they more than made up that number discrepancy with raw firepower.

Jaune watched as the infantry began to split by what he assumed were by companies with four Tempest Tanks moving with them. As well as a eight Chimeras and four Tauroses to each one also moved to attach themselves with the separating Companies as they went to check the three prong front of the Norsii army.

In the center the remaining armor began to pelt the advancing enemy as the infantry spread out by platoons, the crackle of small arms fire so began and it was loud enough that if Jaune closed his eyes he could imagine being in the field next to them as they fired.

"If Major Wiscard put all these units out to face down the Norsii, what happened to the Valkyries? Wouldn't they be useful in this fight?" Jaune asked looking at the other soldiers.

"Why are you asking us?" One of them replied.

"I'm just asking what you think he did with them."

"Ain't our job to know battle plans, we just shoot anything that flies that we don't want to fly."

"Actually shouldn't we be asking you what the plan is sir? I mean you are the High Prince." Another soldier said.

"Come off it, he may be the High Prince but he's up here with us instead of out there." One of them said and Jaune felt his eye twitch at that as the others fell silent before looking back at the battle.

In the center the infantry and accompanying armor were slowly moving back as the enemy tried to get in close but failed to get within range as the Arcadian Infantry and Armor moved quick enough to just avoid getting caught in a melee.

Beyond the battlefield Jaune noticed a number of bright orbs that looked to be made out of purple fire rising into the sky only to strike the first wall or the ground near it. The ones that hit the wall ripped out sizzling chunks of concrete while the ones that hit the ground left burning purplish red fires. Jaune however kept an eye out to see if he could spot the same monster from the first battle but they were nowhere in sight.

A part of him was glad to not see them but the rational part of his mind couldn't help but feel worried. Since they weren't where he felt they should be then they must be someplace where they shouldn't be.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

The sorcerer watched as a handful more of his cannons blew up as the enemy artillery zeroed in on them. The subsequent explosions engulfed and annihilated the squat creatures that control them as the pent up entities were unleashed before quickly returning to the realm beyond.

What he didn't know was the fact that the Arcadians had a Telamon Aerial Reconnaissance Plane running a Joint Tactical Air Control mission overhead. The aircraft was actively relaying the positions of the Hellcannons and infantry formations to the 205th in Vestri along either Wiscard or his infantry and armor commanders.

The sorcerer however knew that they were getting beaten. They've taken ground as the Arcadians drew back and at first it seemed he would be able to crush them against their own walls.

However unlike in the previous encampment they were able to avoid getting into close combat and thus slowly began to negate any advantage his numbers had over them as they kept whittling away at his army.

To the south his runners had relayed that his right flank was starting to falter as the Arcadian war machines were able to go toe to toe with his Warriors and Knights. In the north it was much more disastrous as the bulk of his Marauders were falling apart as the enemy war machines and infantry had the advantage on open ground.

He could send in Az'gelloth to take on the enemy war machines and most likely could defeat all of them. Yet if he did that he would be deprived of his most valuable tool but one that would no doubt draw the attention of the enemy who would no doubt bring down everything they could on it.

This might create an opening that he needs to gain the upper hand but one that was too unpredictable. An idea popped into his mind as an explosion ripped up the ground nearby pounding him with its concussive waves as dirt and shrapnel rained down on him.

He had to act fast as he knew he only had a short time and power to do something like this.

* * *

 **A little while later…**

Jaune lowered the pair of binoculars that one of the Hydra crew members had given him, he had just finished watching the broken enemy infantry and cavalry retreat back to the forest leaving most of their strength behind as dead or dying.

The Arcadian forces however were holding back from pursuing no doubt because that would overextend the flank and leave them with inadequate fire support from the Outpost.

To the center and the western side of the Outpost the enemy was also struggling under the firepower of the Arcadians as they finally positioned themselves under the aegis of the walls. Upon which the Sabre Platforms were now adding in their own quad barrel heavy stubber fire along with the Lancer Field Guns and Serpent Infantry Guns.

At the same time to Jaune it seemed like it might turn into a close fight as despite their casualties the Norsii were slowly but surely gaining ground on the Arcadians who were now backed up against the walls of the Outpost with no maneuvering room left.

He hoped that if they get in close to his people then hopefully they would be able to put up a better fight than before in the south outpost.

It was at that moment that something started to happen, the wind began to pick up but it there was odd Jaune felt like the wind was going down not so much as a regular flow but as if it was being pulled.

"Look!" One of the Hydra crew members shouted and Jaune moved over with the others to see where he was pointing. Down on the ground between the outer and inner wall was a purplish black orb that seemed to be expanding. Blue arcs of lightning danced across its surface as it began to expand.

Soldiers on both the outer and inner wall near the expanding orb began moving in response. On the inner wall two Saber Platforms turned to aim their quad heavy stubber barrels at the anomaly. Jaune put his hand on Crocea Mors hilt as the orb stopped growing and seemed to grow still.

Then figures started to emerge rapidly and the Saber Platforms opened up on them. Jaune drew his sword as he watched half a dozen armored plated warriors fall to the ground under the withering heavy weapons fire.

However as more warriors appeared rifle fire began to crack down on them as soldiers that weren't manning or reloading the various artillery pieces and heavy support weapons turned their attention to them.

Jaune felt the blood drain from his face however as the lumbering form of one of the monster that ripped apart Hoffman's tank platoon came through the orb as it began to shrink.

"Fuck! Neverborn in the perimeter, sound the alarm!" Someone said from behind Jaune and he could hear them scrambling but he continued to watch as the orb shrank to nothing. Yet before it disappeared one last figure emerged and everything else seemed to disappear as he recognized the Mage Warrior that he and Pyrrha fought.

Jaune watched the Mage Warrior raised his arms before bolts of lightning shot out, one striking the inner wall blowing a meter and a half sized hole in it. While the second struck near the top of the wall, Jaune watched three soldiers explode into clouds of blood and broken armor fragments.

Turning around Jaune began to sprint down the stairs that had led him up to the tower in the first place. Behind him the high pitched cracks of lightning strikes and gunfire continued to roar out with the clatter of metal.

There weren't a lot of people inside the Outpost now as Jaune ran through it. Occasionally he saw groups of soldiers but they were heading in the opposite direction from him.

When he turned a corner he recognized it as he began to follow it before reaching another hallway where he saw the others standing out in. Ruby was the first to see him and ran up to him.

"Jaune!? What's going on?" She asked Jaune knew she meant the fighting since it was pretty easy to hear the thumps and crackles of combat.

"They're inside the wall, the Neverborn and the Mage Warrior is with them as well. Get ready to fight." Jaune said ignoring her question as he looked around at everyone.

"Do you really think we should go out and fight them?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune shrugged.

"Probably not but I don't want to sit here and do nothing."

"Fine, let's go crack some heads then." Yang said from behind the red head as she cracked her knuckles.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

He raised his arms to protect to summon a shield as a flurry of bullets rained down on him. He grimaced as he watched the purple blue shield ripple like rain on still water as around him his soldiers were slowly getting cut down.

Az'gelloth was the only thing that was really keeping his small group from keeping routed as a good deal of Arcadians were paying attention to it yet he knew that if he didn't get inside soon before it died then it was all for naught.

The Neverborn roared in rage at the moment and the Sorcerer snarled in annoyance as a few dozen small orb like things started dropping down before exploding. Sending Warriors stumbling or to the ground with broken plates and missing limbs.

"MOVE!" He shouted before sending a bolt of lightning up at one of the bridges that connected the two walls above them. The side exploded and he could hear new screams of pain as debris rained down. High above them he spotted several more bright iridescent orbs crashing down onto the walls or castle spraying heated fragments through the air.

As the group slowly continued pushing through the kill zone with dozens falling dead or injured from the intense firepower every minute he finally spotted what looked to be an entrance.

"Az'gelloth!" He roared and the lumbering Neverborn looked at him. Foul blood was leaking from dozens of minor and some not so minor wounds yet the creature of abyss seemed to not notice them at all.

"GO!" He shouted pointing at the door and the Neverborn didn't give any acknowledgment but the Sorcerer knew that it understood what it needed to be done.

As the creature charged the gate, he watched in satisfaction as with the first thunderous strike against the gate already showed signs of bending to Az'gelloth. Renewed small arms fire raked his line however and he stepped forward as a powerful force struck his back, spinning around with another bolt ready he flung it at the first of the defenders he saw.

In the distance a handful of soldiers disappeared as the bolt imploded shredding their bodies and hopefully peppering anyone nearby with debris.

His warriors formed a semicircle around him, a number of them locked their great shields together as those armed with Greatbows began to let loose with their arrows.

The Arcadian defenders began to take more losses now as a number of them were getting hit by arrows a little longer than a meter and as thick as two fingers.

Jaune and the others emerged out onto the inner wall as the Neverborn began to pry one of the metal gates back. Pyrrha yelped in surprise as an arrow narrowly missed her and cracked against the concrete wall next to them chipping it.

"Come on!" Jaune shouted as the others moved out from the doorway onto the wall, Pyrrha knocked the next arrow out of the air with her shield as Jaune made his way onto the closest bridge.

Taking a second to get a quick glance at the battlefield outside he could see that things were changing rapidly. As the Arcadian flanks were finally starting to pull in on the center.

He reckoned that it meant that either the Norsii flanks had been both overturned allowing for the Arcadians to pincer them or Wiscard was drawing his flanks in because the Norsii were about to overrun him but Jaune couldn't say for sure as he turned his attention back to the Warriors that were holding out between the walls.

A soldier nearby turned to him and Jaune reckoned he or she might have had something to say but whatever they might have said was lost as an arrow hit the soldier in the back of the neck. The large arrow punctured through with enough force that the gleaming arrowhead stuck out a good six inches, blood trailing down the arrowhead to splatter on the stone floor.

The soldier made one last choking sound before falling down, Jaune ran forward towards the railing with his shield raised and stumbled a little as an arrow hit his shield hard. Below them the Norsii were getting close to breaching the gate as the sound of metal groaning was loud enough to easily be heard.

"We can't let them get in!" Ruby shouted as she leveled Crescent Rose before firing twice. Nora stood up with Magnhild in its compact form and fired off a canister. Below them a tiny pink explosion briefly opened up a gap in the Norsii formation.

"What are you kids doing here?!" Someone shouted and Pyrrha recognized the helmet distorted voice of Martin. Looking over her shoulder she could see an armored soldier move to them as four other soldiers took up a place along the sides of the bridge. One of the soldiers was rose up with an Assault Stubber and fired a ten second long burst before ducking down as a large arrow passed through the air space his head was a moment before.

"We came to help!" Ruby shouted, the noise of the battle both out in the field along with the racket of stationary guns, cannons, and small arms fire on the walls made it difficult to really hear anything that wasn't a yell.

"You're not supposed to be out here!" Martin shouted back.

"Never mind that, don't you see that big fucker ripping open the gate? We've got to stop him!" Yang said then looked at her teammates and Jaune could see that they seemed to come up with an unspoken agreement.

"Nora! How many shots do you have!?" Ruby yelled out and the hammer wielder held up three fingers.

"On my signal empty them out on the shield formation!" Ruby called out and Jaune watched incredulously as the four of them backed up for a running start.

Yet something more important caught his attention as five figures emerged out of the same entrance that they had used to get onto the wall.

Jaune recognized the crested helm of Centurion Lais Tava along with four Comitatus Praetorians at her back. The four Praetorians quickly moved to step in front of team RWBY stopping them from running forward.

"Stop!" Tava called out, Jaune jerked his head back as Tava raised her sword which pointed at him. Unlike her subordinates she didn't carry an arming sword and shield instead she carried a large claymore.

"High Prince your involvement in this battle is over. Now withdraw from here." The large Centurion said and Jaune glanced over at his friends. He couldn't read their expressions but knew a choice needed to be made.

"Don't have a choice in this matter Centurion; we need to stop them now before they get inside so you can either watch us fight or help." He said and he might have said more if the roar propeller engines didn't drown him out. Looking over his shoulder to the sky Jaune could see dozens of Valkyries and Vultures coming into view. The lead Vultures let loose a volley of rocket fire before firing their nose mounted Autocannons at unseen targets.

Further above the Vultures, the Arcadian Valkyries soared overhead; many of them had their rear ramps open allowing their gunners to fire down on the field of battle.

"Fine! But follow our lead!" Tava shouted and Jaune jumped aside as the four Praetorians that had stopped team RWBY turned to jump off the bridge to land on the ground facing down the armored formation. Tava however ran along the inner wall, far quicker than anyone in a suit of armor that as far as Jaune knew weighted more than both Beacon teams combined.

Pyrrha however watched in fascination as the four Praetorians slammed into the shield wall, surprisingly knocking down the foremost Warriors before quickly killing them as the others behind them pushed forward to attack. She also noticed that they fought in a fashion similar to how Jaune fought.

Yet there was a fundamental difference between the two, she believed that when it came down to it Jaune tended to fight rather passionately. Sure he thought things through but the longer the fight went the more it felt like whatever discipline he had would break down.

Looking at these Praetorians she could see the practiced ease of the fighting style she'd seen Jaune use. Strike, block and parry all with their sword-shield combo at the same time yet unlike Jaune's Crocea Mors these Praetorians had much more unique weapons in comparisons. She could see the arming swords leaving white hot furrows in the armor of the enemy.

However something felt off at the same time as she watched them. Maybe it was just how she's been training and fighting with the others but she couldn't help but notice that the Praetorians seemed to be completely ignoring each other if Pyrrha had to describe it, to her it was like they were islands in a sea of enemies.

As she looked up however she spotted the Centurion right above the gates with her claymore in hand. Pyrrha watched as the Praetorian raised the weapon with both hands and seemed to tap the blade to her forehead before it became shrouded in a blue haze then stepped off the wall to fall down toward of all things the monster ripping open the gate.

"Go!" Ruby shouted from behind them and Pyrrha turned to see team RWBY run before leaping off the bridge.

"Are you with me?" Jaune called out from nearby and Pyrrha readied her own weapons.

"Always!" She replied before following him over the side of the bridge.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Tava's claymore slammed nearly two feet into the shoulder of the Neverborn. The creature roared out in anger and she barely managed to pull her sword out to use it to stab at the clawed hand that rose to smash her away.

She watched as her blade cut through only one claw before the rest of the appendage smashed into her torso sending her flying off it. Twisting around she was able to level her claymore just as she slammed into the back of one of the Warriors.

The two of them fell to the ground though the Warrior was dead as her sword had plunged into his back. Around the blade the metal was bright red and smoke wafted from the wound.

Three other Warriors turned to regard her as she stood up pulling the sword free; she turned aside the thrust of a halberd before rising into a high guard to let a sword slide off her own in a shower of spark before elbowing the warrior in the face with a loud crunch.

As he fell back with his helm and face caved in she swept her sword down to lock the third Warrior's sword with her crossguard before hammering a fist into the middle of his chest.

The blow sent the Warrior stumbling back giving her the chance to turn around and block the strike from the first Warrior's halberd as he tried to overpower her Tava raised her left foot then slammed it down on his right knee with enough force to bend it backwards.

Sliding her claymore free she slashed downward taking his head off before turning around just in time to push the sword blow of the third Warrior aside though not before it cut through most of her black surcoat.

As she stepped inside his guard pushing her blade into his chest she could hear the sound of the Beacon students joining the fray. A part of her felt annoyed that they still decided to fight but at the same time she reckoned that being as young as they were recklessness was in their nature.

In the corner of her vision however she saw the clawed hand of the Neverborn soaring for her, twisting to face the monstrosity she braced herself as the hand slammed into her lifting her off her feet only to soar several meters back into more of the Warriors.

However unlike the first three these ones moved aside as the Neverborn moved away from the gate towards her. She was vaguely aware of someone shouting in the crude language that no native of Remnant should be able to speak.

As the Neverborn roared from its unnatural mouth before raising both arms to slam down on her Tava ran forward through its legs but not before carving deeply into its left leg. Yet as she turned around she only had time to duck one of its arms as it came at her before rolling to the side as the other arm came straight down.

Getting to her feet she quickly parried the sword of another Warrior who tried to get a hit in expecting her to be completely distracted. Yet she wasn't able to finish him off herself as she had to back away from another swing from the Neverborn came for her however it ended up ripping the Warrior in two.

As she squared herself against the Neverborn she suddenly found two people on either side of her, it was the blonde girl and the orange hair girl with the large hammer from the Beacon group.

"We've got this!" The blonde girl called out slamming her gauntlets together. Tava however had other concerns as a single Warrior in odd armor stepped forward next to the Neverborn. She didn't have time to shout a warning as a bolt of lightning struck her in the chest sending her flying backwards.

She found herself on the ground but as she tried to get up she found that she was breathless, the display on the inside of her helmet showed that her chest plate was flashing red meaning it sustained moderate to severe damage.

Above her the High Prince and his red head partner were to either side of her. The High Prince however was kneeling next to her and it took a moment for her to realize that he was saying something.

"Tava!? Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine!" She replied as she forced herself to sit up and inspect her chest. Her surcoat was in tatters as there was a fist sized dent located over her heart that seemed like it was just a centimeter short of fully penetrating her chest plate with the edges glowing bright red from the heat.

"We'll take him together!" Jaune said and Tava shook her head.

"Stay back!" Jaune looked puzzled yet Tava could see his partner looked a little relieved by the way her shoulders shagged.

"Do not fight him, cover the flanks or engage the others but leave him to me." Tava said as she stood up, the Norsii were losing badly now. In the sky above them a Vulture appeared over the wall before firing its nose mounted guns. Autocannon rounds peppered the armored infantry before several rockets slammed into the formation shattering it completely.

Coming out from side gates only accessible from inside the walls, the Arcadian 5th Company under the temporary leadership of Sergeant Trifina Martin began to press in on the ground as well. There couldn't have been more than six or seven dozen Warriors were left standing, most of who were charging the Arcadian infantry or were engaged in a losing melee against either the Praetorians or Beacon students.

Tava stood up with her claymore in hand, the blonde and hammer wielding girl were in a running fight with the Neverborn. To which Tava was surprised to see that they were doing an acceptable job against it as despite looking frail or weak she could see the two of them giving rather powerful blows for ones their size.

Ahead of her however was her biggest concern, the Sorcerer was more than a few dozen meters away and leisurely walking towards them with electrical arcs crisscrossing his right arm.

She said nothing as she sprung forward closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds as her claymore descended towards the Sorcerer's helm he reached up with his hand to catching the blade in a shower of sparks.

Tava reacted instantly reached out grabbing the Sorcerer's vambrace, her armor's system flashed a multitude of warnings as she touched the lightning covered arm but she still held on before pulling down.

Her energy shrouded claymore began to inch further down as she continued to pull the blade began to bite down in the Sorcerer's pauldron.

The area around the site of contact was beginning to glow red. Yet instead of anger or pain from the Sorcerer he began to cackle and Tava looked down to see a ball of electricity in his other hand.

She let go of her sword completely as she grabbed his other hand before it could touch her.

As the sword fell to the ground, hissing as it touched a puddle of blood from a nearby dead Warrior. Tava didn't waste any time as she lashed out with a foot pushing them apart, in the background the Neverborn continued to roar in rage adding to the cacophony of battle like a fog horn in a storm at sea.

The Sorcerer raised his hand again but Tava was ready this time as she jumped aside avoiding another bolt of lightning before rushing the Sorcerer but had to break right as he flung a second bolt of lightning. Behind her a meter sized hole was blasted in the ground showering her back with rock and concrete.

However the moment she had moved aside the Sorcerer charged her and opened with an upper cut but Tava leaned back reflexively watching as electricity seemed linger in the air like a trailing afterimage of his gauntlet. She pushed his arm aside with her let forearm then sent a short jab aimed at his head but he spun to the side.

Tava followed up with an elbow to keep the pressure on him before ducking a counter jab only to hammer a fist into his torso. The metal of his plackart bent inward and this elicited a jarring cough from the Sorcerer before she hammered another blow into his side.

The Sorcerer began to stumble back yet he didn't fall like the others instead Tava could see the lines of power crossing over his body. She needed to end this fast, spinning around she scooped up her sword as the Sorcerer straightened up, in his left hand was a ball of congealed lava while the right seemed to be charging up another bolt of lightning.

She raised her sword into a high stance then advanced towards the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer flung the bolt at Tava but she jumped aside avoiding it but didn't break pace as she ran at him.

As the Sorcerer began to back up he flung the ball of congealed lava to the ground and it exploded. Tava immediately crouched into a ball as she was pushed back from the force of the blast.

Her armor registered the rising heat from the close proximity of the blast but she pushed her claymore into the ground which anchored her against the brief but powerful pressure.

The moment the force was gonna she was up again running through the smoke, the Sorcerer was waiting however on the other side but this time he had a large sword in one hand.

He started with an upward slash but his opponent blocked then locked their crossguards however they broke as he lashed out with his free hand that was sheathed in ethereal lightning. Tendrils of lightning left scorch marks on the white armor of the swordsman but other than that he didn't seem to notice the damage on his armor.

The swordsman then pressed him with his own upward slash but as their swords met he pulled inward to avoid locking it then broke contact as he twisted his wrists to bring the large sword back around in a downward diagonal swing.

The Sorcerer backed off avoiding the strike before coming at him with a return thrust but the swordsman swiped his sword in a clockwise motion turning his thrust aside. He quickly backed off again knowing that the swordsman would either try to grapple or hit him with another powerful free hand blow.

However his chest was starting hurt badly and breathing was becoming more difficult by the second he reckoned that the blows from before had either broke his ribs with the high chance of internal injuries.

Looking to the side quickly he could see that last of his Warriors go down fighting with Az'gelloth facing the other four armored swordsmen along with those wretched women that had escaped him the day before.

The sword came for his face and he turned it aside in a shower of sparks as he backed away. A quick glance at the weapon he had picked up and he could see that the blade edge was horrendously damaged by whatever sorcery or technology that covered his opponent's blade.

As he parried another strike and backed away from his opponent he also had to admit that not only was the swordsman stronger but he was much quicker.

The only thing that kept him alive this long was the whispers that warned him of where the strikes were coming from yet the voices were getting louder and louder as the seconds ticked on with more coming in to whisper the many paths that lay before him making it difficult to understand what they're saying or to think in general.

All he knew was that he needed to get out of there before it was too late but he had a problem with that.

He no longer had the strength to draw power from the Ether, the boundaries being as strong as they were ensured that the only real way to take the fortification was through blood and steel. In addition he had found that some sort of ward was built in around the structure making teleporting him along with the small force with him a one way ticket to try to take the walls behind the enemy that were out in the field.

What strength he had left was then used to try buying time for Az'gelloth to break the final gate. It might have worked had the creature not gotten blinded by rage. The gate was malformed by the damage the daemon had done but not enough to get in, though he shouldn't be surprised that a vaguely sentient spawn such as Az'gelloth had lost control.

The swordsman came at him with a thrust aimed at his face and he raised his sword to block it but as their blades came into contact his opponent ducked left then pulled his sword down before slashing at his leg. The edge of the strange blade cut into his cuisses then the flesh underneath and pain flared up his body as the blade dug deep before breaking his femur.

Searing pain flashed both up and down his leg as the swordsman slid the blade free. As it cleared his leg he fell backwards with more pain flashing through him as his mostly separated leg pulled at the remaining skin that held it together with the broken plates pinching his mutilated leg.

Above him the swordsman held his sword with both hands as he looked down at him. Around them, the fighting was starting to die down, none of his Warriors alive even Az'gelloth had fallen, the blonde, white, red and orange hair women were standing on its corpse.

Tava was taking deep breaths inside her helmet as she looked down at the Sorcerer; it had been a tough fight at first. She suspected that he used whatever unnatural means he had to put up a reasonable fight as he had been able to block or evade her strikes.

Yet at the same time it gave him away as he couldn't overpower or move faster to gain the edge or even playing field between them. She leveled her claymore point down at the Sorcerer, he began to whisper something.

Tava knew that letting his kind speaking freely wasn't a good idea, so she plunged her sword into his neck cutting him off from saying anything else before twisting the blade back and forth severing his head.

Jaune stood with the others as he looked down at Crocea Mors; once more the blade was stained with blood that dripped off the tip. Nearby some of 5th Company's infantry were putting more rounds into the dead bodies of the Norsii but as far as he was aware they had won the fight.

He had to assume that they won outside as well since aside from the noise that dozens of Valkyries and Vultures were making there didn't seem to be a lot of fighting going on. Though the occasional Lancer Field Gun or Serpent Infantry Gun fired off a shell but Jaune assumed that they were just firing at any fleeing enemy.

"I feel like that was a lot easier than yesterday." Ruby said as she walked up to him, the younger girl was trembling a little and Jaune couldn't blame her. She had been the only to deliver the fatal blow to the Neverborn, sure Nora and Yang did most of the legwork but Ruby had a role to play in it as well.

"Well I suppose they were more ready for the enemy this time." Pyrrha added in from the side though Jaune could see her arms twitch a little as Arcadian soldiers continued making sure everyone was dead. He did find the idea of killing anyone that may be wounded left a bitter taste in his mouth but he knew better than to voice his thoughts.

"So what's going to happen now?" Blake asked as the others finally began trickling in only for them to look at the incoming Praetorians.

The Centurion looked as bad as he felt. Her surcoat was in ruins and her normally white armor was singed black in various areas with a noticeable blackened crater in her chest plate from where she was hit earlier from the lightning blast.

"I can't believe you took that lightning hit from that guy, Jaune got hit with one and he was out for the rest of the day." Weiss remarked and Jaune had to admit he was a little jealous of that but he supposed a Praetorian Centurion was leagues better than him.

"Your time here is up." Tava said curtly before the other four Praetorians fanned out around them.

"Once we've secured transportation we'll be returning to Nodens after which you will be departing the Hurin Valleys back south to Vale." The Centurion said and Jaune could see Yang getting visibly upset but Ruby restrained her as the taller girl stepped forward.

"Can we at least rest before hand?" Blake asked but the Centurion shook her head.

"No, I'll send word to one of the Valkyries to pick us up outside Vestri." So the eight of them followed the Centurion as they picked their way to the main gate of Vestri Outpost, a few of the 5th Company soldiers waved them goodbye to which they responded. Though none of them came up to give a proper farewell as they quickly turned back to their duties either checking for fellow wounded soldiers or making sure the Warriors were completely dead.

Outside the scene was reminiscent to what they saw at the southern outpost. The ground was torn up in various areas with smoke curling out of fresh craters. Unlike the dissolving field of Grimm, they could smell burning wood from the rings of trees in the distance and the heavy metallic tang of blood.

More importantly however was the dead bodies, hundreds were if not thousands of bodies were strewn about in the field before them. Tanks rumbled slowly forward crushing the fallen bodies without care as soldiers combed the field though teams of soldiers were attending the wounded or dying as the Valkyries began to land in the clear areas for them.

Jaune watched as soldiers carrying wounded comrades on stretchers came towards the main gate where soldiers from the Defensive Company were waiting to assist them.

He had to shut his eyes as he focused on tuning out the moaning, shouting, whimpering of the men and women that had been injured.

"This is horrible." Ruby said from nearby.

"War is a horrible thing Rubes." Yang said.

"This isn't war." Tava replied from ahead of them.

"What would you call this then?" Weiss asked.

"A skirmish."

"Seriously?" Yang asked, Tava turned to look at her and Yang recoiled a little as for a second the woman in her battle worn armored felt as inhuman as the Norsii.

"There hasn't been a true war in these lands since the Great War. Peace has softened you." Tava replied curtly and Jaune felt he had to step in before someone said something they might all regret.

"Tava that isn't fair nor is it true and you know that. The Four Kingdoms fight everyday against the Creatures of Grimm a foe that even Arcadia couldn't defeat on its own."

"I'm cannot deny that the Grimm aren't a serious threat but to claim fighting the Grimm is akin to war is something that I wouldn't agree with." Tava said as a Valkyrie began to descend nearby, loose dirt began to be kicked up by the downdraft and Jaune had to shield his eyes as it settled onto the ground and the rear ramped open.

"Come." Tava said simply as she stepped aside and gestured towards the aircraft's interior. Without a word the eight of them walked into the interior before they sat down. The five Praetorians weren't that far behind them.

As the ramped closed Jaune just sat in silence as the Valkyrie took off, Jaune didn't even look around at anyone as he put his head back and closed his eyes.

Deep down he felt relieved to be off the battlefield and heading towards safety knowing that the Norsii army had been routed. Though he didn't envy the Arcadian units still on the ground as he figured Wiscard would have them combing the lands in force to locate any stragglers.

* * *

 **Twelve Hours later…**

Pyrrha stood by the Valkyrie's side hatch, the mounted heavy stubber was tucked inside allowing her to get a better view of the hills, dense patches of trees and grassland as they passed over them. About a hundred feet away from the aircraft, a Vulture, if she remembered correctly was flying in formation with them.

When they had left Nodens a flight of these gunships accompanied them, it seemed Governor Kagiris wasn't taking chances of lingering Grimm or who knows what else. Though they hadn't gotten the chance to ask him as they were only in Nodens long enough to change Valkyries.

"Honestly, can someone remind me why we were in the Hurin Valleys again? I've been thinking about it and I can't remember." Yang said from behind her.

"Really? It was a pretty big deal." Blake said and Yang arched a quizzical eyebrow at her.

"Oh yea? Then tell me Yang, why were we there?" Blake opened her mouth to say something but stopped before closing her mouth as well.

"Told you." Yang said with a triumphant grin.

"We're almost to Vale right?" Weiss asked ignoring the conversation as she looked at the closest Praetorian but they didn't say anything.

"Yes, we should be landing in another ten or so minutes." Tava said from the front of the interior, the five Praetorians were spread out amongst them. Two sat next to the rear ramp door with another two sitting in the middle of the seats with Tava up front next to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha could see that she was right, to the far west the sun was just starting to hit the horizon but she could see clearly that they were near the sea. While it was still mostly unfamiliar territory to her, she was at least aware that it felt familiar to what she had grown accustomed to in Beacon.

Looking down at the ground she could occasionally spot a small town or village. Territory this close to one of the Four Kingdoms it was a lot safer since Huntsmen and Huntress tended to live out in these areas along with the odd Valean Military patrol on the roads between them.

However she remembered in her readings for Oobleck's class that the Valean Army had been reduced to something more akin to a National Guard or well-trained Miltia than the professional Army of the Great War. Looking up she noticed a familiar line of red tree tops starting to come into view.

"It's Forever Fall forest." Pyrrha called out and the others began to chat animatedly though when she looked over her shoulder she spotted Jaune staring at his hands as they trembled a little.

She remembered that there were some rather important things going on in Vale that involved him since he was what some of the other Arcadians called High Prince. More importantly the fact that Gideon Nauo knew his secret meant someone high up probably in the Council is going to take notice at some point soon.

Who knows how things might be for him at Beacon, a part of her felt sorry for him as the soon to be unwanted attention would surely take its toll on someone who didn't want it at all. While she did dislike it she also knew it came as a cost at her desire to fight in tournaments.

She didn't say anything as the flight continued, there was a flurry of voices from the cockpit but Pyrrha mostly ignored it as she looked once more back out at the sea of red trees. However to the south west she could see some of the vague shape of what she knew was Vale.

In the skies above Vale were the noticeable shapes of Atlas Naval ships but more importantly was the fact that one of these ships seemed to be coming towards them.

"You should get seated." A voice said behind Pyrrha and she looked over her shoulder at Tava. The Centurion however wasn't really looking at her but Pyrrha knew she meant her.

"I think I'll be fine here."

"If you say so." Tava said and Pyrrha cocked her head a little at the strange implication in Tava's voice. It wasn't long till the edge of Beacon came into view, several of the Atlesian Attack Transports were in the air but they seemed to move away as the Arcadian aircraft came in to land.

Pyrrha turned away as they began to descend however to grab her weapons which she had left next to Jaune. Her partner didn't seem to notice her however as she sat down next to him.

"Jaune?" She whispered and he snapped his head up so fast that it startled her for a second.

"We're here." She said, Jaune gave a quick but albeit strained smile as he nodded.

"Thanks Pyrrha, I'm just…nervous."

"I think I can understand that feeling, no one would have guessed who you were before but now that it's out everything seems like it's going to change." Pyrrha said and he nodded.

"I'm not surprised you understand what I'm feeling since you have had your fair share of troubles."

"That's true but if I had to be honest if I knew that dealing with them would lead me to you then I would be happy to do it all over again." She wasn't sure why she said that but she could feel her face heat up and seeing Jaune look away with his own face looking a bit red meant that it had some strange traction with him as well.

This feeling Pyrrha had was something she wished she could explore, ever since meeting Jaune she's felt a strange connection.

She wasn't sure why that was the case but a part of her also knew that her emotion capabilities have been hindered over the years. Despite that she was confident that what she felt or at least what she thought she felt were genuine.

The only problem was she had no idea what to do from there.

At that moment the Valkyrie shifted under its weight as it settled onto the ground, the roar of the engines began to whine as they spun down. Everyone stood up as the rear ramp lowered itself, as they stepped into the dying light Pyrrha could see a relatively small crowd of onlookers at the edge of their landing platform.

More importantly however was a small group of people nearby, Headmaster Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, and Gideon Nauo. With them were also six men that looked to be Valean soldiers in full combat gear standing behind them.

"Something tells me this is trouble." Ren said from behind Jaune and he couldn't help but agree a little. As they got closer the five Praetorians outpaced the Beacons students before planting themselves between the two groups. The Valean soldiers stepped forward as well but Gideon raised a hand to keep them back.

"It's good to see all of you again." Ozpin was the first to say as he looked at each of them.

"From what I've heard you've all survived a harrowing ordeal which is why I have Professor Goodwitch here to escort you to the infirmary for a checkup." He said upon which the blonde woman stepped forward but the four Praetorians wielding shields raised them as one. In any other situation Jaune might have enjoyed the look of surprise on the otherwise strict Professor's face but alas this was not one of them.

"Tava, she's on our side." Jaune hissed knowing that the Centurion would be able to hear them. In response, Tava reached up with one hand and there was a hiss before she removed her crested helm.

"As long as we're with the High Prince, anyone that wishes to approach him and his companions must first request an audience with them through us unless specifically stated prior by him that they may approach." Tava said evenly as if she was talking about a shopping list.

"Excuse me? This is Beacon property and while he may have authority where you're from but here he's a Beacon student first and prince second." Goodwitch said and Jaune stepped forward.

"Centurion Tava, have your legionaries stand down." Jaune said mustering the best commanding tone he could manage though to his own ears it felt like his voice was more than a little wobbly. Yet the Praetorians including Tava straightened up.

"High Prince I know you're unfamiliar with this but this is something that falls under our mandate and therefore not something we can just ignore." Tava said looking at him with a still passive face and Jaune nodded.

"I understand that Tava but for the time being anyone we meet is to be considered exempt to such rules." Jaune said and the woman nodded before looking at Goodwitch again.

"Apologies ma'am, you may approach." Tava said and Goodwitch gestured for the others to come forward.

"I already have a select group of faculty and medical staff set aside to run you through medical examinations and counseling." Goodwitch called out but after a second she lowered her voice to a surprisingly comforting tone.

"I don't know what you all went through out there but rest assured we're here for you." Jaune wasn't sure who let out a loud shaky breath but for some reason it seemed like that was what they wanted to hear. As the others followed Goodwitch Jaune stayed back as he turned to Tava.

"Well Centurion I guess this is goodbye." He said and the four other Praetorians slammed their fists to their breastplates while Tava nodded.

"It's been an honor meeting you High Prince." Tava said but Jaune saw the Centurion look over his head before her face became inscrutable.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Gideon called out from behind Jaune as Tava made her way around Jaune with a hand on her claymore's hilt. Coming up to them was a group of people; Jaune however recognized them as Atlas Military.

At their head was none other than General Ironwood as he led a detachment of Atlesian Knights and soldiers. Ozpin stepped forward as well as the Praetorians surrounded Jaune.

"Where is he?" Ironwood called out as they got close.

"Where is who?" Ozpin asked evenly and Ironwood sighed.

"Ozpin, you know who I'm talking about. Ambassador Nauo's report mentioned that it came to light that you had a member of the Arcadian ruling family amongst your student body."

"I don't see what that has to do with you." Ozpin asked instead.

"You know fully well that I have to be involved in this Ozpin, he's a member of an enemy Kingdom."

"They're not the enemy and neither is he and you know this."

"His people were acting on their own and got Valean citizens killed yet you're still defending him? Ozpin this is exactly why the Council chose me to oversee Vale's safety for the Vytal Festival." Ironwood said before looking at Gideon.

"And before you even say anything Mr. Nauo let me just inform you that the Council orders your withdrawal from this matter as such any attempt of authority shall not be recognized." He said before finally fixing his gaze on Jaune and the Praetorians.

"You will either surrender to my authority or be subject to arrest in either case you will be coming with me." Jaune could feel Tava and the other Praetorians bristle at demand.

"Take one more step towards the High Prince and you won't be leaving here alive." Tava said as her Praetorians not only raised their shields but drew their swords as well. The Atlesian Knights and soldiers began to spread out with their rifles raised but Ozpin stepped forward once more.

"Enough!" He called out as he slammed his cane onto the ground with a crack that made Jaune flinch and everyone else pause.

"I do not care what the Council has to say on this matter, Jaune Arc is my student and as long as he's my student he shall not be taken into custody over a matter he had no reasonable connections to. Now leave my sight and my school before you do something you'll regret." Ozpin said and Jaune thought Ironwood might challenge him but the Atlesian general's shoulders sagged as he shook his head.

"For the sake of our friendship Oz, I'll leave for now but if the Council orders me to come back." Ironwood said before taking a deep breath.

"Then I will have no choice but to arrest Jaune Arc."

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Viskryrd Rotsunder looked before the assembled survivors of the Norsii Army; many of them were tired and wounded. On top of that their morale was at an all-time low, they had suffered far too many defeats. First in the frozen wasteland now here sure they had razed a few towns and villages but they never put up a proper fight.

Then they assembled en mass once more over five thousand strong and felt strong with a renewed purpose. It was however short lived which now saw them cowering in a forest during night as the victors from earlier hounded them.

If he had to guess there was a little more than a hundred of them, mostly other Warriors with a few dozen marauders and Knights. Not a remarkable force but enough that it would no doubt be strong enough to continue razing other towns and villages like before.

"What should we do?" An Aesling Warrior called Ghaoka asked

"We travel west once more and strike along the coast. These infidels cower behind their stone walls and we haven't the strength to challenge them but given time with raiding, pillaging and breeding we might someday come back to rain down our revenge against them."

"How are we going to do that? They're still looking for us after the battle."

"For the next few days we'll travel during night then rest during the day that way we'll be able to escape their search in no time." He said and Ghaoka nodded before stepping in close.

"I don't think the others will take kindly to being given orders."

"Do not worry about that, any opposition that springs up will be taken care of." The moment those words left his lips something splashed his armor. Ghaoka tittered forward a few steps and Viskryrd could see the faint shape off an arrow protruding out of his horned helm.

As if a dam broke, commotion overtook the assembled group as more arrows began to pelt them. Viskryrd cursed as he hefted his shield in time for another arrow to bounce off its surface.

The forest came to life as cloaked figures riding great horned stags that rode through with expert grace in between the spread out warriors riding them down or lopping off heads before disappearing into the trees again.

"Form up!" Viskryrd shouted and his ever decreasing warband closed ranks before they finally started fighting back. The shrieks of animals in pain soon began to ring out couple with the occasional cry of pain of their unknown attackers.

Within seconds however the attack stopped but Viskryrd kept his shield up as an intense wind began to blow down shaking the trees as if a storm was brewing nearby. Yet there was something off about the wind, the night had been cool and comfortable yet the air was now hot like a desert during a mid-summers day.

He looked up at the shattered moon and saw something that he sent a chill down his back. Silhouetted in the light of the broken moon was something massive he never thought he'd see in person.

As the shadow moved closer, growing bigger and bigger that it soon seemed to eclipse the shattered moon it began flapping great wings that sent powerful winds before it. A single source of light emerged in its shadow and before Viskryrd could even begin a pray to his infernal gods, fire consumed him and all around him.

As the last member of the warband succumbed to the flames, a series of powerful gusts beat down on them putting them out leaving nothing but a smoldering mess of cracked glassy like surface.

The creature gave off a beat of its large powerful wings before ascending into the sky once more, its shadow evident against the backlight of the broken moon then finally disappearing as a whole into the dark sky.

* * *

 **Well it's been a while huh?**

 **I just wanna say sorry for taking such a long time to get anything posted, I'm finally in Uni and it unsurprisingly has taken up a lot of my time. From presentations to papers to more presentations in addition to legitimately making a small game based on the real life of a young German Communist boy in his struggle to flee Germany to Soviet Russia was a long time consuming process. Even won a small reward in recognition of my participation and work on it which felt really odd for me but I digress.**

 **I hope that this chapter isn't too shitty considering how long you all had to wait to read it.**

 **Feel free to leave a review of what you thought of the chapter or the story as a whole in the comments as I always take the time to read and address any thoughts or concerns you might all want to bring up.**

 **Anyways, I'm gonna go celebrate my birthday by doing something, I don't know...**

 **Till Next time!**


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Pyrrha sat silently at the foot of her bed; glancing over at the digital clock on her bedside she could see that it was a just shy of four in the morning. Normally she woke up at five to get her early morning workout in but once again sleep had mostly eluded her.

It had been a little more than a week since they arrived back at Beacon and things have been hectic. Both teams had to deal with the administrative mess of their mission. First there were the comprehensive medical checkups, though of the eight of them only Jaune and Yang had the most hassle in that regard.

Yang recounting her near disembowelment at the hands of one of the creatures prompted scans for any residual internal effects.

Dillinger had explained in a hypothetical scenario while her Aura is trying to repair the damage it would still get worse as it could only do so much which meant that while her life was extended from a few minutes or hours to days or maybe even weeks eventually the damage would get to the point that her Aura wouldn't be enough to save her.

In Jaune's case, getting knocked out from essentially one blow that either completely destroyed his Aura or negated it meant there was something to it that was unique. Plus in his description it was safe to assume that even after the initial incident it had some effect on him which rendered him unconscious for more than a few hours.

Doctor Dillinger was furious when he learned of their injuries. The middle age man had gone on a tirade at how irresponsible they both were in not seeking immediate medical attention once they were off the battlefield.

The two of team of course tried to reason their way out of the lecture. Yang stating that they were fine in the end so it was okay but Dillinger countered by saying that if Ruby had been the one that almost got gutted then Yang would have no doubt have demanded every medical procedure to check on her little sister at the earliest chance.

Jaune however pointed out that there just wasn't any time for it. To which Dillinger snapped at her partner saying that it was the duty of a team leader to make time for the health and safety of their team including themselves.

He would end on telling them that ignoring your own health and safety only burdens those around them.

Afterwards they had to each go over what they knew about Fusia Aster's death. Though while it was relatively short since none of them knew how it happened but just the result it did feel as if the Council agents that had interviewed them were judging them for not doing anything.

Which to Pyrrha was utter nonsense, they had no idea what was about to happen nor did they have any reason to believe that out of all of them she was the one that needed the most help.

After the medical examinations and debriefings they were allowed to return to class. Everything seemed normal at first aside there being a rumor that Atlas soldiers were found dead or incapacitated at Beacon Tower during the dance but that was it.

It didn't last long however both teams soon were hounded by other students about what it was like in the Hurin Valleys or pestering Jaune to hang out with them or in some cases asking if he would like to go out on a date.

She felt a spike of irritation as she thought about that, thankfully Jaune had turned them all down.

Glancing over her shoulder in the dark she knew Jaune would be tossing and turning again. She had found out that Jaune was having nightmares of sorts, as the first time she saw him in distress she had thought about waking him up only to stop short.

He hadn't been the only one to have nightmares, every now and then she would also see Nora or Ren twitching or fidgeting as they slept. Nora had even put a hole in the wall above her bed which they had to send a request in with Maintenance to get it fixed up while they were at class.

Team RWBY were also having their own problems, Weiss had the tendency to seem withdrawn from the group while Blake would just disappeared during breaks or after classes were over for the day. Yang was getting frustrated a little more than usual and had gotten detention twice in Goodwitch's combat class when she took her frustration out on others.

Surprisingly enough, Ruby was mostly fine, she would get a little gloomy whenever she noticed these new tendencies manifested in front of her. Yet Pyrrha didn't know if there was anything that was bothering the young scythe wielder.

Sighing she stood up then headed into the bathroom to change. As she stepped back out, she could hear someone murmuring, it was Jaune.

He was having another nightmare, Pyrrha was certain of it as she moved silently to his bedside, her memory of the room's layout was adequate enough that it allowed her to avoid stubbing a toe or tripping.

Pyrrha stood over Jaune in the dark, while she couldn't see him exactly she could get a vague sense of an outline of him in his bed tossing and turning. He was mumbling something but she couldn't figure out what it was so she decided to kneel down beside his bed listening to his short panicking breath.

She still couldn't understand what he was saying but she could hear the fear in his mumbling voice. It left a pit in her stomach to hear him so agitated but she wasn't sure what she could do.

The first time she had tried asking about it she didn't want to be to direct but he seemed he brushed off any attempt for her to even hint at it.

So Pyrrha knelt there for a few more minutes listening to him before deciding to try something. She maneuvered herself up to sit on the edge of their joint nightstand.

If Jaune woke up now it may convince Pyrrha to climb Beacon Tower then take a swan dive off it to end the perpetual embarrassment it would cause her.

She leaned carefully down until she was certain that her head was close to his, she could hear his head turning but it didn't seem like she was in threat of accidentally knocking her head against his.

"Jaune." She whispered softly but her partner didn't wake up instead just continued to mumble in her sleep.

She remembered something that her grandmother used to do for her when she was a little girl. If she recalled correctly she would sing a small song whenever she was sad or upset, it was a beautiful song, one that always brought tears yet they weren't bad tears.

Pyrrha didn't remember the lyrics of the song as what she remembered was they were words that she had never really heard anyone else speaking. So she just began to hum softly to the best of her ability in reminiscence of the song.

It seemed to have an effect as after a few moments Jaune seemed to stop moving before he inhaled then let out a small sigh of relief. Pyrrha continued to hum for a few more minutes before finally standing up, careful not to make too much noise as she left the room.

What she didn't know was the fact that Jaune was awake when she left.

* * *

 **Later that Day…**

Jaune sat with the others in the main cafeteria, around them he could occasionally see someone looking in their direction before looking away when he caught their eye.

"Anyone else getting tired of this?" Yang asked and there was a murmur of acknowledgments from around the table.

"I mean, can you really blame them? Most of them haven't even gone on their mission let along did something as fascinating as what we did." Nora said.

"Well that is true but could they the least they could do is stop staring at us whenever they think we're not looking." Blake grumbled.

"Ah come on, it's not that bad, I always had to deal with people staring at me when I was in Atlas." Weiss said then gestured at Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha was already pretty famous before this as well and we never heard her complaining about it."

"Ah but Weiss just because I never complained about it doesn't mean I didn't have my own gripes about it." The tall red head said and Weiss nodded.

"Fair enough."

"If this isn't a problem for you then how come you came to Beacon instead of going to the Atlas Academy?" Ruby asked looking confused as she picked at her food discreetly pushing aside the vegetables that Yang piled onto her plate only for the blond girl to push them back into the center. All while Weiss just looked at Ruby as if the younger girl had grown another head.

"Have you not been listening to anything I've said over the last few months?" This prompted Ruby to look up at Weiss with the same confused look.

"I'm sorry were you saying something?"

"I just…wow really….I can't believe…ugh…never mind." Weiss sputtered before looking back at her own plate. The eight of them sat in relative silence as they went back to eating before Ruby broke the silence again.

"So, anyone hear any news about the Tournament?" She asked looking around the table.

"Well I heard it's been cancelled in the wake of everything." Ren spoke up.

"I heard that as well, it seems the Vale Council is being pressured to postpone the Tournament to address the public's concern." Blake said.

"Really? I heard the Vale Council was deliberating about pushing it forward. You know, to take everyone's minds off the last few weeks." Weiss said.

"I don't know, they haven't even announced the opening matches let along a start date. I think they're going to push it back." Pyrrha said.

"It's been delayed." Jaune finally spoke up and everyone looked at him.

"Has it?" Yang asked

"Yes it has." He said evenly but Pyrrha could see him squirming a little as if he was trying to say something but couldn't figure out how.

"Jaune? Is there something you want to tell us?" She asked and Jaune looked at her for a few moments before sighing.

"I guess you're all going to find out about this sooner or later so might as well give you a heads up." He said.

"Heads up about what?" Blake asked and Jaune folded his together.

"Just before Tava left she told me something rather important." Jaune glanced around as if expecting someone to do something before leaning in.

"You all know how my Aunt and her soldiers were arrested?" They nodded so he continued.

"Well, it seems my father has not taken kindly to that and now has put together a Naval Task Group to come to Vale."

"So what you're saying is?" Yang prompted.

"He's coming to Vale with a military force." Blake finished.

"So what does this mean?" Weiss asked and Jaune could see that the heiress looked almost nervous.

"You don't think he's going to take them back by force?"

"How many ships is a Naval Task Group Jaune?" Ren asked and Jaune thought about it for a second.

"If I recall my lesson's correctly the standing doctrine of Arcadia's Navy is for Naval Task Group to be anywhere from thirteen to twenty four warships. If I had to guess what sort of composition the Task Group might be, it'll probably be something like eight frigates, eight destroyers, maybe three Light and Heavy Cruisers. As for the last few ships it's maybe going to be any mix of two Aircraft Carriers though normally it would be three Aircraft Carriers. However in this case I'd imagine the last ship would be the Fleet's Flagship. Plus that's not even getting into what sort of Auxiliary ships that will be accompanying them." Jaune said.

"But do you think he's going to take your aunt back by force?" Weiss asked again and Jaune shrugged.

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so? So that means there might be a possibility that he might do it?" Blake asked and Jaune shrugged again.

"No, I know he won't do anything rash but I guess it all depends on what Ironwood and Vale does when he gets here." Jaune said and no one said anything for a moment before Nora exhaled loudly.

"Well, that's absolutely terrifying."

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

Jaune knew what was happening before he even saw anything as students were running towards the windows in the corridor. Sighing Jaune glanced to his right to see not only team RWBY but his team as well pressed against the large windows.

"Jaune you might want to see this." Ren called out and Jaune walked up to the window. In the distance, the Atlas Navy was forming up in a loose circle but he couldn't see what was causing exactly.

His scroll began to buzz in his jacket pocket so he reached in to pull it out. Flashing on his screen was unsurprisingly Headmaster Ozpin.

"Yes Headmaster?" Jaune said as he accepted the call.

"Jaune Arc, you've been requested to head to the docking bays as there's someone that wishes to meet you."

"I understand Headmaster Ozpin I'll be there shortly." The call ended and Jaune looked at the others.

"So…who wants to meet my father?"

* * *

 **30 Minutes Later…**

Jaune and the others pushed passed the assembled crowd that stood near the Docking Bay. No one made a move to come forward however as Jaune could see that there were at least a dozen teachers forming a perimeter along the student body though he didn't really know any of their names.

Standing on the docking bay however was Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch who was facing them. The stern deputy beckoned them forward so the eight of them climbed up the steps onto the platforms behind him the assembled crowd began to murmur but Jaune ignored it.

In the distance he could see dozens of small aircraft coming closer to them, high above them however Jaune watched a three Flights of Lightnings roared over the sky above them. Trailing behind them were a dozen Atlas fighter-transports for some reason that Jaune wasn't quite sure.

As the aircrafts got closer however Jaune could see that there were at least sixteen Arcadian aircrafts. Eleven Valkyries with an additional Flight of Vulture Gunships, surrounding them were more Atlas fighter-transports.

In the background Jaune could see three of the Atlas vessels peeling away from the formation over Vale that were beginning to advance towards them.

Jaune shielded his eyes however as the eleven Valkyries began to descend on the platforms as they twisted to point their ramps towards them. He did noticed however that Ozpin was standing calmly without even flinching despite his clothes whipping in the wind.

The center most Valkyrie began to lower its ramp as it touched the ground two figures emerged and Jaune recognized the Housecarls of the Arcadian Royal Family. Though of the two only one seemed to be carrying a poleaxe while the other had a sheathed sword.

These Praetorians technically didn't belong to the Legion; instead they were apparently supposed to be teams assigned to protect each member of his family. From what Areto told him, they've wanted to be the ones protecting the Arc Household in Avalon but his father had instead given that job over to the Umbra Praetorians.

These warriors in gold looking armor with white surcoats were not officially attached to each member of his family save for him.

Pyrrha watched as the next figure emerged, this one was rather different. Even from this distance she could see that this figured in golden armor wore a unique looking helmet with a purple crest on their helmet and a slightly billowing purple cloak with a golden thread trim.

Behind this figure emerged another unique looking individual in what she thought was dark green armor with a beige hooded surcoat. Standing next to this hooded figure was a man in what she recognized as an unarmored Arcadian infantry uniform.

"Shit, he brought a Frontline Centuria." Jaune hissed and Pyrrha turned to see what he was looking at. The other Valkyries had lowered their ramps as well with more Praetorians exiting them though unlike the golden armored ones from the first one these ones had black armor with gold trimmed pauldrons and crimson surcoats that showcased the Arc emblem.

The wind began to pick up as the eleven Valkyries closed their ramps then began to ascend again. In the skies above them the remaining aircraft hovered in position until the Valkyries began to form up as they headed towards the coast again.

Looking back down however Pyrrha was caught off guard to see Headmaster Ozpin leading the main group towards them.

To either side the black armored Praetorians began to line up in rows of ten, on the right side a solitary Praetorian who had a red transverse crested helmet stepped out while on the left was one with a faintly visible red stripe on their helmet, Jaune cleared his throat drawing her attention again as he knelt down. Which Pyrrha and the others were quick to follow as the golden procession stopped before them.

"Team JNPR, Team RWBY, allow me to introduce my father, High Lord Alexander Arc first of his name, King and rightful ruler of the Kingdom of Arcadia." Jaune said in a loud and clear voice.

"Please rise." A commanding voice said and the eight of them stood up by instinct as the largest of them removed his helmet revealing a man with short silver hair and a clean shaven aristocratic face despite the long scar on his face.

"Hot damn." Yang whispered only to get elbowed in the ribs by Blake. Pyrrha however did have to agree, the man before them reminded her of Jaune but in a more mature way that age brought about. There was also the fact that he was rather of handsome

"I don't know about you all but I for one feel it would much more relaxing if we head inside." He said and Ozpin nodded.

"Well then, if you don't mind please follow us." Ozpin said and the group turned back towards Beacon. Behind them the distinct sound of people marching in step could be heard and Pyrrha looked over her shoulder to see the black armored Praetorians marching into a column four wide and twenty five deep with the red crested Praetorian at their head.

The assembled mass of each of the Four Kingdoms that had been watching parted in the wake of the group. Pyrrha wasn't sure how to handle the looks everyone was giving them as they walked past and what's worse was the fact no one seemed to be saying anything.

All she could hear or really focus on was the sound of marching behind her. For some reason it unnerved her but it might have to do with how Jaune reacted at seeing them.

He had called them a frontline cohort, which to her meant that they had a fundamental difference in their roles to the Comitatus Praetorians they had met in Nodens. She dreaded what the reason was that saw his father to bring them here of all places.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

Jaune hated life at the moment; he wasn't sure what was more nerve rending. The fact that his father was here which surely meant that at some point he would want some alone time or how it seemed like everyone was expecting violence to break out.

The student body of the Four Kingdoms had essentially split up. Atlas and Haven Academy students were sticking together. While Vale and Shade students were mostly keeping their heads down, as there had already been a demonstration by Mistral students against what they had called as foreign there were rumors going on about how Arcadia was planning to do a hostile takeover of the school in order to get their people back.

"You know, I never really imagined your father to be like that." Yang said from across Jaune. The group had gone back to their dorm building after Ozpin dismissed them when they had reached Beacon Tower and now they were sitting in the commons room.

"Be like what?" Jaune asked.

"Well, he looks like you." She said and Jaune frowned.

"Why wouldn't we look similar? He is my father after all."

"See that's the thing, I know that but I still couldn't quite believe it."

"What Yang is essentially saying is there are so many rumors and stories of your father that he's sort of well, a legend, whereas you're not really someone that fits. So it's surprising to see so much of you in him or vice versa." Weiss said with a look that suggested to Jaune that she thought she was being helpful but the withering glare Yang was shooting her said otherwise.

"Yea I still don't get what you mean but now I feel kind of bad about myself, so thanks?"

"You're welcome."

"It's crazy to think what's going on, it wasn't that long ago that we were just worrying about what sort of assignments the teachers were gonna give us. Then out of nowhere we go to the Outlands fight not only an army of Grimm but an Army of messed up people now there are two Kingdoms about to lock horns with each other with the rest of us in the crossfire." Blake said.

"My father wouldn't go to war over this not unless he's pushed by Ironwood. At the same time I doubt he would push on his own end to make this into a fight." Jaune replied.

"Nice to know you think that but Ironwood arrested your people, I doubt he's going to let them go willingly." Weiss said.

"Don't forget you told us that he wanted to take you into custody after finding out you were a prince." Ren pointed out which actually make Jaune realize that he had a point on that account.

"Guys, I'm sure Ozpin will keep the peace between the two." Ruby said and Blake shook her head.

"Ironwood undercut Ozpin from security for the Vytal Festival, so I don't know how much we can trust Ozpin to keep things from getting too heated. Besides you saw how those Mistral students reacted, it's clear to see that they're biased against them as well."

"They just don't know anything, given time I'm sure Ironwood and the rest of the students will accept them." Ruby replied confidently.

"I admire the enthusiasm Ruby but Blake's got a point besides what if something happens in the mean time?" Yang asked and no one said anything as they all thought about the consequences. Around them other students who had been chatting in the background grew quiet and Jaune looked up to see them all staring at something.

"Jaune Arc." A faintly familiar voice said and Jaune stood up before spinning around. Standing there was a familiar woman, while she was in full Praetorian plate her helmet was tucked under her left arm with her right hand resting on the pommel of a sheathed longsword.

"Areto?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Ozpin sat silently in his chair as he poured two cups of delicious coffee, a minor vice on his own part but sometimes life has more meaning when it's filled with imperfections.

Across from him was Alexander Arc, leader of Arcadia and a warrior to his very core was dressed in an elegant three piece business suit after Ozpin had given him some time to get settled in.

Ozpin had a great deal of time to study people and their emotions whether it was physical ticks or the things that were unintentionally spoken even without words.

With this man before him he could not decipher a thing about what he was truly thinking. Sure the man was careful enough not to appear guarded as it would imply that he had something to hide nor was he too lax as it would also be a sure sign of false ease.

No, he gave as much as he hide maybe more but at the same time with certain events playing out it would be easy to assume what he might be worried about.

For Ozpin though what troubled him were the things that he didn't know he should be worried about.

"How long has it been?" Alexander asked.

"Pardon?"

"How long has it been since Vale has felt threatened?" Alexander clarified looking at him and Ozpin set his cup down before gesturing to the seat opposite of him. The much larger man walked over and settled down in the chair which creaked nosily under his weight that Ozpin was certain it would break any second.

"One gets used to the dangers of the outside world; we no longer baulk in fear at what lurks in the shadow but now stand around the light looking out into the night." Ozpin said as he picked up his cup again to take a sip.

"Yet the defenses of this light are no longer a wall of strength but a wooden fence with a solitary old man shepherding a flock that knows not where it goes."

"You speak as if strength is the only path to victory, mindless force is a bigger detriment than it is help." Ozpin pointed out and Alexander nodded.

"That is true strength alone isn't enough, yet to disregard it for misguided conviction or sight isn't going to be helpful for anyone."

"By that I must assume you're talking about Ironwood."

"Well there is him but he is just one amongst many others."

"Interesting might I ask who else you might have in mind."

"Come now, it would uncouth of me to speak ill of others towards my host."

"Be that as it may, to know that my guest has ill feelings of others that I may know vexes me in thinking that I can't amend these irritants that trouble you."

"Ah, spoken like a true teacher, molding and shaping the world around you to educate and assist those that surround you."

"True, that is my job to facilitate the young minds of those that are to take up the mantle of responsibility for this world."

"In that case Ozpin, why did you send my son on that mission up north?" Alexander asked and Ozpin took the time to sip his cup again.

"Why Lord Arc, I merely did what can be seen as improvisation with the curriculum. During that time the first year students were to pick and shadow a professional Huntsman or Huntress in the field. However the Vale Council came to me asking for additional bodies to provide security while I didn't think it was necessary to call in other professionals I did believe it was prudent to show some of my more hothead students that there's more to being a Huntress than just fighting while also showing the values of politics and providing leadership training to others. So I assigned team RWBY and JNPR on that mission which I must also say that the option was given for either team to back out of it if they felt like they were ill suited or not interested in a mission such as that." Ozpin said calmly.

"If anything I should question your judgment in allowing Jaune to continue to use his last name. As surely you would have known that someone would piece together the obvious connection as your own last name recorded in history for all the Four Kingdoms to read from the Great War."

"Why Ozpin, I can't help but get the feeling that when you say that you mean that I was in the Great War? An event that was eighty years ago?"

"Maybe I am."

"Surely a reasonable person would never believe such a thing, even on the extreme side of Aura and technology people can barely make it to the age of a hundred and twenty."

"True but you surely are not a normal person with normal Aura." Ozpin said and Alexander smiled as with the briefest of motions with his arm he suddenly had a knife in his left hand.

"You sound so certain unfortunately for you such certainty is founded on nothing." Alexander said and Ozpin tensed for a moment as he held his free hand up then slid the knife across his palm.

Ozpin frowned as blood trickled out from the open cut before Alexander put the knife away then held up the bleeding hand before wiping the blood away to reveal nothing was there. Before Ozpin could say anything however the elevator at the far end of the room chimed as the doors revealed General Ironwood.

The Atlesian General strode confidentially into the room as Alexander stood up adjusting his jacket. Ozpin watched mildly interested in the way the two seemed to eye each other up; it reminded him of a duel.

Two opponents would eye each other up as they circled around waiting to see who would make the first move.

"So you must be High Lord Arc." Ironwood said breaking the silence as he stepped forward and held his right hand out which Alexander took with a simple smile. Ozpin once again was reminded of a duel as it looked like two men locking blades with each other.

Ironwood however began to frown and Ozpin realized that they must be in fact testing each other's grip strength. This surprised him as he would have figured that Ironwood would have the advantage yet he gave a strained smile before they finally released their grips.

"It's a pleasure to meet you General Ironwood." Alexander said with an easy smile and Ironwood cleared his threat but didn't meet the taller man's gaze.

"Ozpin, what is it that you wanted to speak to me about?" Ironwood asked instead and Ozpin shook his head.

"It's not that I didn't want to speak to you but more to arbitrate between the two of you. High Lord Alexander wished to discuss the events of the last few months with you before the Council hearing tomorrow." Ozpin said and Ironwood narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Alexander.

"I don't hope you'll try some political trick to get me to release my prisoners before a proper trial."

"I'm a simple man General Ironwood, those sorts of tricks I leave up to someone much more intelligent like my wife or ironically the woman you captured during that event." Alexander said as he walked back to the window he had been standing at before.

"No, I want to show you the truth because believe or not I'm not your enemy. In fact I'm trying to help you all." He said before pulled out, of all things, a folder.

"In here is the culmination of reports that the operation I sent here had gathered. The reason why I wanted to show you two this before I did with the Vale Council was because some of the information in here puts into question the trust and loyalty of some members themselves or at the very least suggesting that their staff has been compromised by enemy agents." This got Ozpin's attention as well as Ironwoods. Alexander set the folder down on Ozpins desk and opened it for them to see.

Ozpin began to spread the papers out, many of them had attached photos of what he presumed were government employees most of whom were Faunus meeting with either shady looking individuals or uniformed White Fang members. The documents that these photos were attached though were marked as the written transcripts of recorded audio or information that had been gathered detailing the target's activities.

"If even a quarter of these are true then there would seem to be a number of White Fang affiliates or sympathizers within the Vale Council as you said compromising the integrity of the institution." Ozpin mused aloud but Ironwood scoffed.

"How do we know you're not making this up?" He asked and Alexander titled his head as he moved aside a more pages to show them a picture. Ozpin saw Roman Torchwick handing what he could only assume was a briefcase of Lien to a uniformed SDC member.

"Why would I have any need to make this up to you? Everything we've gathered points to a serious operation from a third party that's working not only against me but against the Four Kingdoms as well." He tapped the picture of Roman again.

"And he's the clue, despite his bluster we all know that Roman at his core is just a criminal as such he doesn't want to have too much heat on him, so why would he do these robberies one after the other? Sure the initial assessment from all of us was that he's just doing this to make a name for himself but even after achieving that status from the people of Vale he was still doing them. Then out of the blue he's gone, no more robberies, the news outlets go quiet but the city is still in fear of him because they think he's just waiting for them to drop their guard." Alexander said.

"He's causing fear." Ozpin said softly starting to catch on.

"Then the hits on the SDC start picking up, after the first train shipments out in Forever Fall were hit earlier this year the White Fang have been picking up momentum. Yet what's on those shipments? Dust, mining equipment, weapons and of course the occasional SDC employee but to me there was something else there. What tipped off my operatives was the fact that there wasn't any noise about it. This is understandable on the part of the SDC, if they start blabbering or complaining that Vale needs to strengthen its side of security then confidence in the Dust Market goes down. The shops in need of new Dust shipments after getting robbed by Roman now know they have nothing to refill their stocks, people hear that the stocks and prices are now in a volatile state so they start to buy what they can before the prices start going any higher. Now not only is the economy getting damaged but it shows that the White Fang is doing some serious damage or in the minds of wayward Faunus youth, they're making a difference. This of course will drive up the number of White Fang recruits. Though this is all based on the idea that the SDC reports these increased robberies to either Vale or Atlas. Instead they didn't which only meant that the White Fang could continue to hit with near impunity against the SDC without fear of reprisal from Vale or Atlas devoting more assets to crack down on them. At the same time the fear of the White Fang growing in strength increases as words and rumors leak inevitably from the SDC which of course promotes fear from the populace who think they might get labeled as racists or traitors. With Roman tying the public and Vale authorities up with his crimes and the SDC keeping quiet about the increase of their little war with the White Fang these two events are bound to cause Vale a serious headache on each of their own merit."

"Yet the two seem to be working together." Ozpin finished and Alexander nodded.

"So Roman was stealing resources to supply the White Fang but how is this possible? The White Fang would never work with a human, especially a human like him." Ironwood pointed out.

"And that's where you must come in." Ozpin said looking up at Alexander.

"Yes, it was never my intention to get caught up in Vale. Yet circumstances and evidence led me here."

"What do you mean?" Ironwood asked.

"A little while back words got to us that an Outland village had an incident that worried us greatly. I was still on the continent at the time so I went there personally with a small detachment to see what was going on since I can't rely on the disorganized nature of Huntsmen or Huntresses to act accordingly. Yet even with my more timely response the village was razed before I got there and when I did I encountered, enemies, afterwards I found evidence that suggested that the last group to arrive before the village was destroyed had come from Vale itself."

"So, you're tracking down who you think would be responsible for this village's destruction and now have come to the conclusion that whoever had a hand in it is also involved with Roman and the White Fang." Ozpin surmised.

"I wouldn't say involved as much as behind the two. I think that there's a stronger faction that's taken both of these parties under their aegis to use as proxies."

"Proxies for what?" Ironwood asked and Alexander shrugged.

"I can't say for certain but I know that someone has the information that we need." He said and Ironwood crossed his arms.

"You mean Roman."

"Well he is your prisoner, surely by now you must have tried to get information out of him."

"I have."

"And what did he say."

"He's my prisoner and that information is mine to keep." Ironwood said evenly and Ozpin sighed audibly.

"James." Ironwood looked at him then back at Alexander.

"Oz, you can't be serious."

"Please James; I think it's pretty clear that Lord Arc is on our side."

"I would kindly have to disagree Oz, just because he's not our enemy in this case doesn't mean he's friendly." He said looking at the seated man before sighing and looking at Alexander once more.

"But I've always been a man to believe what I see with my own eyes and as I've said it's clear that he's not our enemy in this matter." He said before sticking his hand out which Alexander took once more.

"I'll present this new evidence to the Council and convince them to release your people as a show of good faith for this budding alliance." Ironwood said and Ozpin release a small sigh at this. He had been trying to figure out a way to reconcile the two sides but he couldn't think of anything that would work without blood being split.

"So then Lord Arc, where do you plan on staying?" Ironwood asked and the Arcadian ruler looked at Ozpin.

"I was hoping to stay here for the time being while my people request space to construct an Embassy."

"An Embassy?" Ironwood asked.

"Well my son is becoming a Huntsman and with everything going on it would be a good show of faith on my part by giving an official path to communicate with my Kingdom for the Four Kingdoms. In the meantime I was wondering if Ozpin would be so kind as to give me a small room to stay here for the time being." Alexander said and Ozpin nodded.

"I would be honored to let you stay here Lord Arc, in fact if you're so inclined then I think I have another idea that might strengthen your relations with the Four Kingdoms."

"And what's that?" Alexander asked and Ozpin felt a genuine smile touch his face.

* * *

 **Later That Night…**

Jaune walked through the Academy's campus; here and there he could see another student or two walking either to their dorms or the cafeteria to grab a late night bite.

For him however he needed to clear his head. Jaune hadn't expected to see Areto here; sure while he knew she was a Praetorian he didn't realize she was in fact a member of the Royal Housecarls. Though that wasn't a big deal in the end, it honestly made a lot of sense.

"So you're the one everyone is talking about." Jaune jumped as a voice spoke up behind him and he turned to see a green hair girl standing with a silver hair guy.

"Ya know, I guess if you give him some fancy looking armor he might fit the role." The guy said and the green hair girl glared at him before looking back at Jaune.

"You know it's normal to introduce yourselves when you come up to a stranger and talk to them." Jaune said as he crossed his arms for some reason he didn't like these two or maybe it was just the silver hair guy he wasn't sure yet.

"My name is Emerald Sustrai and the idiot behind me is Mercury Black." The green hair girl said.

"Sup." Mercury interrupted.

"Well alright then, is there a reason you two are here?"

"Wow someone is a little rude." Mercury said.

"You know I don't think I can really be blamed when two people who I've never met before want to have a small chitchat in the middle of the night." Jaune said as Emerald and Mercury started to walk to either side of him. Every instinct in his body was starting to rattle off a warning.

"Emerald I don't think he's very comfortable around us."

"To be fair Mercury, you do have one of those kinds of faces." Emerald said.

"Lord Arc." A new voice called out and the three of them turned to see a pair of the gold armored Housecarls watching them. Emerald and Mercury both bristled a little on the inside at this sudden intrusion though Jaune didn't notice.

"Uh, yea?" Jaune asked and one of them stepped forward.

"The High Lord wishes to speak with you." One of the helmed Praetorians said and Jaune looked around just realizing that there was at least three other Praetorians waiting in the shadows.

Emerald and Mercury watched as they disappeared into the night. They didn't say anything to each other as they walked back to their dorms.

"You two are back early." Cinder Fall said from her spot next to one of their windows.

"Well we met him." Mercury said.

"Who?"

"The Arc kid." Emerald said.

"And what was he like?"

"We couldn't do much talking; Mercury spooked him with his ugly face." Emerald said.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I said it would be smarter to approach him during the day but you wanted to do this at night when it's going to look weird." Mercury huffed.

"What happened?" Cinder asked evenly but Emerald still felt her mouth go dry a little as Cinder stared her down.

"Well ma'am, it's those soldiers that the Arcadians brought, we think they might be more than a show." Emerald explained and Cinder frowned a little. It was already annoying to have the Atlas General around but the Arcadians might just tip the balance against her.

"What's your assessment of these Arcadians?" Cinder asked.

"Well, I don't know what they're like in a fight but considering what I've heard and seen so far they're either massively overrated since they don't seem to utilize Aura or they'll live up to their reputation and more as unlike Atlas as they might be a ruthless but competent militant Kingdom." Mercury said.

"Which if we also take into consideration that neither Mercury nor I noticed five of those armored soldiers sneaking up on us makes me think we should be taken seriously." Emerald concluded.

"They won't be any trouble for you." Emerald hastily added as she noticed a dark look entering Cinder's eyes.

"Leave me." Cinder said as she stood up and Mercury looked like he was going to say something the glare she gave him made the taller teen baulk before beating a hasty retreat after Emerald who had left the room.

This was a problem; while Ozpin was the most dangerous person in the vicinity he was passive in his hunt for her after she slipped his right hand man. General Ironwood was much more attentive but with the White Fang on her side it meant his Atlas background would make a perfect target to use the White Fang to blunt his blade and cover his eyes.

The Arcadians however were a much trickier sort, as it seemed that they had their fingers in a number of pies in addition to being a mostly unknown variable.

What little she knew was also about the same as everyone else in Vale. The Arcadians reputation was still founded on probably outdated bits of information that were gathered from random observers during the Great War and the Faunus Right Revolutions.

Yet everyone knew that the Northern Sanus Campaign was one of the deadliest theaters in the early part of the Great War.

As despite the tentative truce to fight the Arcadians after they essentially declared war on everyone, the Four Kingdoms at the time had been close to losing that campaign. The only thing to stop it was the abrupt peace and subsequent truce that the last King of Vale was able to broker between Arcadia and his newly formed Vale-Vacuo Alliance.

It was vexing enough to know they were the ones to break her plans for Mountain Glenn and leading to Roman's capture. It was even more problematic to think that they are technically on the lookout for someone like her.

She needed a new tactic as even with her virus in Ironwood's systems he would still have more than a few thousand human soldiers.

Plus she didn't have an ounce of faith that the White Fang or Roman's thugs with the stolen SDC and Atlas military tech would be able to take on both the military might of Atlas or Arcadia. Including the Huntsmen and Huntresses that would no doubt be in the city for the Vytal Festival there were a lot of people poised against her.

As the aftermath of the battle to the far north showed that she needed an edge and the thought struck her as a smile grew on her face, sometimes the best way to fight fire was with fire.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jaune stood behind the Housecarl as the elevator came to a stop the doors dinged as they parted and he followed the Praetorian out of the elevator, partially glad to do so as only one Praetorian could ride the elevator at a time even then he had the sinking feeling that the elevator might collapse.

Looking around he could see that they were in a relatively well lighted room with ceiling lights throwing off a pale glow; though half the wall on one side of the room was really just one giant window that gave a clear line of sight of Vale in the distance. Aside from that Jaune could also see the room was rather sparse save for a few couches around a small table in the center with unmarked doors to his left and right.

More importantly however was the figure that stood looking out the window. Alexander Arc was dressed in black trousers, a white dress shirt and an unbuttoned suit vest.

"So…hi." Jaune said after a moment where his father didn't say anything else.

"Is that all you have to say?" His father asked turning around and Jaune felt the blood drain from his face.

"Hi? A simple two lettered word is all you have to say to me? Your father? The man who raised you from a young infant into the man you are today but all you can say is hi?!" Alexander said as he crossed the distance in what seemed like a few steps before looming over Jaune. Jaune didn't know what to say, his mouth opening and closing but words failing him at seeing the fury in his father's cold blue eyes.

"Gotcha." He suddenly said before the wrathful look on his face disappeared into an ear splitting smile.

"What?"

"Come here boy!" Alexander said loudly before wrapping massive arms around Jaune lifting him effortlessly off the ground before whipping him back and forth like a dog with a chew toy.

"D-Dad! I'm d-dying!" Jaune gasped as his father had begun to squeeze him which also cracked his back loud enough that for a second Jaune was worried his spine broke. Though in truth he normally did like getting his back cracked so that was fine by him.

"High Lord, I believe the young lord is going to die at this rate." A new voice said it was a deep baritone voice that had a strangely stereotypical aristocratic flair to it. Thankfully his father did let go of him as he stepped aside to show a large familiar looking man that was still wearing the beige hooded surcoat over dark green armor.

"Is that you Zophiel?" Jaune called out and the figure reached up to pull back the hood revealing a clean shaven bald man with a scar that ran over his right eye which had been replaced by a red lensed bionic eye that was drilled into place on the side of his skull.

"It's been too long High Prince." The giant said as he bowed from the waist which Jaune returned. Chaplain Zophiel Inias, another unique individual in his father's retinue. Jaune was still not sure what Zophiel did for the Praetorian Legion or really his father aside from giving advice.

Behind the giant however was a more normal person, at least in comparison to his father and Zophiel. Jaune recognized a Major General's insignia stitched onto the man's lapel.

"Now I bet you're wondering why I brought you here." Alexander said and Jaune nodded.

"I assume you wanted to talk about what happen in the Hurin Valleys." Jaune said to which he could see the Chaplain and Major General stiffened a little but Alexander looked as if Jaune hadn't said anything at all.

"We'll get to that in a bit but first I figured I should explain what I plan on doing here first since it involves not only you but our people and Kingdom as a whole. So please, sit." Alexander said gesturing to the furniture and Jaune walked over to them before carefully sitting down.

"Oh, before we start let me introduce Major General Janus Heider, commander of the 3rd Army Corp's 14th Infantry Division." Alexander said pointing to the man, if Jaune was standing up he figured that Heider would probably be about the same height with dark brown hair and a small scar that nicked his left eyebrow in the middle.

"Please to meet you High Prince." The man said as he saluted which Jaune nodded in return as Alexander sat across from him.

"So, were should I start." Alexander mused.

"I assume you're here because of Aunt Lilith." Jaune said and his father nodded.

"That is true; bailing her out of trouble is the original reason though I can't really blame her for getting caught. It was a tough situation and she did what she thought was right."

"Yea I'm still fuzzy on the details, the media here in Vale hasn't stated anything more than that Arcadian troops were at the sight of the incident and then spun it up as if we were the ones that caused it."

"Oh, is it we now?" Alexander asked and Jaune flushed since as far as his father was aware Jaune wanted nothing to do with his people or the Kingdom.

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, yes, I'm just teasing you. As for the media it seems the Council and Ironwood at the time was adamant in tying us up with the blame for the incident."

"So you came here to defend her at her trial?"

"If necessary but I already talked with General Ironwood and worked out a deal with him to release Lilith and her troops from his custody while acquitting ourselves from the crimes that the Council and people of Vale believe we committed."

"So she's already free?"

"Pretty much."

"Then are you leaving?"

"Not really, Lilith is going to return to Arcadia for a time as there is still a political mess to deal with so having her on the continent in arms reach of Council hired Huntsmen is a dangerous thing."

"So the Council might still try to fight us?"

"Fight is a strong word but just because I've convinced Ironwood of our innocence that doesn't mean the more hard line parts of the Vale Council will take kindly to releasing their prisoners."

"Wait, I thought Lilith was General Ironwood's prisoners?"

"Technically yes, he was the one to arrest them and is currently holding them captive on his ships but he's only able to operate under such a capacity due to the Council giving him that authority for the duration of the Vytal Festival otherwise he would have to hand to them over to the Council." Alexander said as he leaned back.

"So he's only got temporary power which is predicated on the good faith he has with the Vale Council over Headmaster Ozpin."

"Ozpin? What does he have to do with this?" Jaune asked not sure how the Headmaster fitted in.

"As far as I'm concerned he's got a stake in this more than anyone though for what reasons I can't guess. That being said it seems that he knew who you were from the very start which to me suggests he's got reasons that he's not willing to share about your mission north." Jaune nodded along.

"I suspected that as well but honestly I don't think we have to worry about him, he's not a bad guy." Jaune said and Alexander held up a hand.

"I know that Jaune, I'm fairly sure I can trust him to do the right thing but I fear I don't know what his reasons would be. The same can be said about Ironwood, he doesn't want, chaos, in the Four Kingdoms and neither do I." Alexander said and for some reason Jaune got the inkling that there was more to that statement than what he was letting on as Zophiel shifted wordlessly at it as well.

"Speaking of that northern mission, I've got some questions."

"I'm sure you do." Alexander said but this time Jaune felt bold enough to cut him off.

"Don't try to change the topic father; I've seen things that I still can't explain. Things that are not only haunting my dreams but my friends as well, people died that shouldn't have up in the Hurin Valleys to an enemy that I've never even heard of and I want to know who or why they did it." For a brief second Jaune thought he saw a dark look cross his father's eyes but it was replaced by his usual unreadable expression.

"I would tread carefully with your words High Prince." Zophiel was the first to speak up and Jaune felt his spine tingle at the coldness of his words but Alexander held up a hand to stop the Chaplain.

"Seeking answers is an admirable thing, to know and understand the world and universe around us is something that should be sought after as to do so is to bring knowledge which is a fundamental step to power, not only for yourself but to protect those around you." Alexander said before leaning forward.

"Yet not all is meant to be known as for some the wisdom that answers bring is only the stepping stone to fear and from there it's a spiral down to insanity and destruction to everything around you."

"Good news, I'm already afraid but now I want to know why." Jaune said and Alexander smiled though Jaune could see that the smile didn't reach his father's eyes. Yet instead of the normal inscrutable stoicism, it was something that Jaune rarely ever saw, sadness and something clicked in his head.

"Katherine." He whispered but his father nodded a little.

"Did she give up her right as heir to the throne because of this?" Jaune asked.

"Mostly but pray tell, what is it that finally tipped you off?"

"Areto always said during training that Katherine didn't leave out of hate or rebellion but a more fundamental feeling. I never understood what she meant at the time but considering I was always too tired to think straight I never gave it much thought. That is until I was in Nodens, there I was able to finally start getting my thoughts together and Katherine was a major focus that led a part into my conclusion."

"And what conclusion did you reach?"

"I think you know what that is."

"Maybe I do but let's put a pin in that just for a second." Alexander said as he ran a hand over his hair.

"Major Wiscard's After Action Report that Kagiris forwarded to me suggested that you've finally come to terms with your position though I suspect that you aren't going to drop out of Beacon." Alexander said and Jaune grinned.

"I'm still set on completing my Huntsman training maybe even working as one for a while after I graduate but I do accept that I have a responsibility to Arcadia."

"Fair enough and what did you think of it?"

"Think of what?"

"Fighting with the Army, you saw how they fight against not only a mindless horde like the Grimm but a relatively more intelligent enemy as well."

"That's true, I can see why you didn't think it was necessary for me to become a Huntsman but at the same time I felt that our method exposed too many people to dangers that they could have avoided if we had a more dedicated unit of highly trained individuals to fight."

"What do you think the Praetorian Legion is Jaune? If I could deploy the Legion as the main strength of my forces then I would but you have to realize that such an effort to train individuals to that extent as the main or sole force is ridiculous. They would never be able to grow or be sufficiently sustained as a force. If I dismantled the Arcadian Military leaving the Praetorian Legion as its defenders we would have to give up most of our territory because there aren't enough of them. Look at the Four Kingdoms Jaune, Vale's population rivals most of cities in Arcadia combined but unlike Vale our cities are spread out because we can cover more ground with the Army whereas even with almost a thousand Huntsmen and Huntresses contracted with the Council they're limited in their reach. It's why the number of Outland towns and Villages on Sanus are more prevalent, because they have to rely on themselves more so than the Kingdoms. There is something else you should have realized now as well after being on a real battlefield, the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the Four Kingdoms will never be a real military force even with Atlas, their operational scope is too limited, they can't take ground nor can they defend it. I would rather have a full strength Army Division than a thousand professional Huntsmen or Huntresses." Alexander said in that a tone that gave Jaune the impression that having a debate wouldn't be in his best interest.

"I understand." Jaune said though he didn't really but it was better not to go down this line as it would just end up in an argument.

"Alright then but before I tell you again I want you to tell me what it is that you saw out in the Hurin Valleys." Alexander said and Jaune took a deep breath before he began to recount the events he saw.

He told him everything from the western mountain fortresses to being in the forest as they moved to take up position outside the Outpost with Grimm attacking sporadically. Saving the tank crew, watching the Arcadian Air Force bombing the area around them where the Grimm had gathered as they attacked the Outpost.

To then going inside to hear the sounds of dying people as his senses were nearly overwhelmed by the metallic scent of blood and bile.

The feeling of panic and fear when team RWBY ran off on their own to find the missing Huntress Fusia Aster only for them to come back in shock at seeing a new enemy that paraded her mutilated corpse.

Followed by the brief but violent siege as this new enemy assaulted the Outpost after following team RWBY's retreat. Their strange weapons and creatures seeming to be unstoppable as they destroyed the accompanying Heavy Tanks before breaching the gates to slaughter the surprised defenders.

Then Jaune recounted his brief fight with the Mage Warrior only to be defeated and waking up hours later into the night to see the Arcadian survivors retreating northward to regroup with the Battalion. Upon which they were housed in the Vestri Outpost as Major Wiscard gathering most of his Battalion to engage the now identified Norsii Army before defeating them.

"So who are those people or things or whatever the fuck they are?" Jaune asked and Alexander sighed as Zophiel stepped forward.

"My Lord, I think it's safe to say that he's witnessed enough to warrant an explanation." He said and Alexander nodded to Zophiel who stepped closer before kneeling in front of Jaune.

"That he does, Jaune what I'm about to tell you must stay between us. Nothing that I say can leave this room for your safety and those around you."

"My safety?" Jaune asked perplexed but Zophiel gave him a cold look.

"One of my duties is to train individuals in the ways to preserve not just the mind and body but the souls as well, as with all wars not everyone that returns bears a scar on their body but instead their mind or soul. These scars must be treated like any other illness though unlike physical wounds those that fester do more than just kill the host but infect them with something that is much worse than death. Like Chiurgeons we treat and heal the sick but sometimes we must amputate or grant mercy to those that are too far gone." Zophiel explained before finally going into detail on want the Norsii and the creatures he had seen were. Jaune listened but as Zophiel continued to talk with his father interjecting for clarification the less Jaune liked what he heard and after what seemed like forever Zophiel stopped.

"Any questions?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Should I go over it again?" The bigger man said and Alexander chuckled.

"It is fine Zophiel; Jaune just needs a moment to process this."

"I understand." He said as he stood back up and backed away as Jaune put his head into his hands.

"So, that's all true?" Jaune asked after a moment looking up at his father.

"Every single bit."

"We need to tell people this; a threat like this is as big maybe even bigger than the Grimm."

"We can't." Alexander said softly but he held up his hand to stop Jaune from exploding.

"At least not the whole truth Jaune, no matter what it will be hard if not impossible to fully explain even now I bet there are some parts that you will never truly understand and neither will other people. Think about it, monsters, demons, gods, alternate dimensions these are things you can't just plop down on people. It just doesn't work like that; to force it out in the open will only do more harm than good." His father said patiently.

"Then how do you explain it to the people in Arcadia?" Jaune asked.

"It took time but I and many others like Zophiel were able to piece together the story in a more organic way. As the history of our people is tied hand in hand with the Immaterium and believe it or not so are the rest of the people on Remnant. In fact the biggest tool that Huntsmen and Huntresses use has its roots in what we told you." Alexander said and Jaune nodded after a moment of thinking realizing what he meant.

"The Sea of Souls."

"That's right, Aura, like magic is based on a person's connection with the Sea of Souls. The larger or stronger a person's soul is the more power he or she has."

"But then shouldn't Huntsmen be more prone to these, possessions or taints?" Jaune asked.

"That's the thing, what we've come up with is that the natives of Remnant have a special, connection, in a sense. While they have a presence in the Immaterium they seem to be limited by the fact that they can only use their own soul putting an effective cap on their exposure with the Neverborn that dwell in the Immaterium."

"So we're protected but also not as powerful or versatile as others. I guess it's better than nothing." Jaune said and sat there for a few moments digesting the information some more. It was hard to get his head around it as it was pretty complicated but after seeing what he saw it didn't feel out of place.

"So now that you understand that, I guess we can move on for now." Alexander said but Jaune shook his head.

"There's something that I still don't get." Jaune said as he looked up at his father but for some reason he wasn't quite sure how to put it so he shook his head.

"Never mind."

"What is it?"

"It's nothing I was just thinking."

"You can tell me son." Alexander pressed and Jaune sighed knowing he wanted something.

"I mean, how did these things start? Surely there was a point in which everything turned for the worse right? Maybe there's a way to stop it." He said but Alexander shook his head.

"It's not like that Jaune, as far as we know they weren't forced or even technically corrupted but merely exist as a sort of physical representation of these concepts or ideas but with so many various interpretations that sentient creatures have makes it so muddles that there cannot be one clear cut definition thus making them, chaotic in their nature."

"So what you're saying is they'll never change?"

"Probably."

"Alright then how do we beat them?"

"By surviving as long as we can without falling or becoming tainted ourselves."

"So, what you're saying is, the only way to survive is to not die and not go bat shit crazy?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay."

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

"So to reiterate, the Norsii and those like them are worshipers of entities that dwell in a nightmare realm that mirrors our own taking aspects of sentient creatures or life then twisting them into fucked up parodies. They have weapons, armor, and support from these entities that if left unchecked violate every natural law of the universe all for the purpose of utterly wrecking our shit." Yang was the first to speak up after Jaune's explanation of his conversation with his father and Zophiel a few nights before.

After talking with his father for another hour catching up on how his family was doing in Arcadia and other current state of affairs. Jaune had decided that it would be best to relay this information to not only his own team but team RWBY as well.

Looking at the seven of them now though he was starting to think it might have been better if he had convinced his father or Zophiel at least to talk to them.

"Honestly, I was hoping for something less elaborate." Weiss said and Jaune tilted his head at her.

"Don't get me wrong, a part of me thinks you're either crazy or stupid but I'm also not blind or willing to push aside what we all saw in the Hurin Valleys." She said before taking a deep breath.

"But why did you tell us this?" She asked and Jaune shrugged.

"It seemed only fair to me to help you all put or have some rational understanding of the things we saw."

"I for one am thankful for you for to do so Jaune, from what it sounds like it seems like your father would rather keep this a secret." Blake added in.

"You're right in that regard Blake in fact I don't think he even wanted me to tell you guys about this."

"I can't really say I blame him on this, matter, if we weren't there I would think you're making this up." Ren said.

"I wouldn't say that though, we already fight against the Creatures of Grimm so I don't think there is much of a difference. In fact, from what we've seen the Grimm are far more numerous and constant in their threat to us." Nora pointed out.

"Nora's right, besides didn't you say your father brought like an army to Vale?" Ruby added.

"Not an Army, an Army Division. It's about twenty thousand frontline soldiers with accompanying armor, artillery and heavy weapons support and with the task group anchored just off the coast there's twenty four warships anchored offshore with probably another dozen support and transport ships. As for the Grimm even my father would say that they're a serious threat but just because one enemy is in front of you that doesn't mean you should ignore or forget that there's another lurking behind you."

"So what does that mean for us?" Blake asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we know this, stuff, I guess but we can't talk about it and certainly we can't fight against it so what now?"

"I…I don't really know I just felt like it was the right thing to tell you. What you do with that information is up to you though I would prefer if you would talk to the rest of us about it before doing anything dumb." Jaune said and Ruby snorted.

"Come on Jaune, have we ever done anything dumb?" The younger girl said.

"I'm not sure if I should answer that seriously or not." Jaune said and Pyrrha cleared her throat.

"Well, I for one think we should come back to this another time. The Vytal Festival is going to start in a few weeks so let's just get through our class and train." She said and the others nodded.

"I can agree with that but don't hold it against us when we win." Yang said with an over-dramatic sigh.

"Oh? What makes you think you'll win?" Nora said as she crossed her arms and Yang shot her a grin as the four of them did some weird back to back pose.

"Cause we're awesome." Weiss said before slapping Yang's hand.

"Right but let's go now, Goodwitch's class is going to start soon and I for one don't want to be late." Jaune said and Nora snorted.

"That's because you fell asleep during break and didn't come to class till the last ten minutes."

"And I'm pretty sure I told Pyrrha to wake me up." Jaune replied and Pyrrha suddenly started to whistle very poorly.

"Well in either case let's go."

* * *

 **10 Minutes Later…**

The eight of them entered the combat classroom which seemed to be abuzz with more noise than usual. Looking around at the stands they could see that there were in fact more students than normal as well, it looked like a packed stadium waiting for a concert to start.

"What's Ozpin doing here?" Ruby asked and Jaune could see the silver hair Headmaster standing next to Goodwitch.

"This can't be good." Jaune muttered as they made their way up the steps to an open spot at the very top. Below them Ozpin waited patiently as the hourly chime of the clock rang out signaling for the class to start. Goodwitch however had to clear her throat loudly in order to get everyone's attention though it helped that she had a mouthpiece that was wirelessly connected to the room's speaker system.

"Quiet down children!" She called out and even students from the other Academies became silent at the commanding tone of the deputy headmistress.

"As today is a special day, I figure it would be best to cut to the chase." Ozpin said his voice much easier to hear with the relative quiet.

"As you may all know Professor Goodwitch here is our lead instructor for the Combat Classes. However it's come to fruition that up until the start of the Vytal Festival in which classes will be suspended there will be a new instructor taking over the Combat Classes." Ozpin called out and Jaune suddenly felt very nervous.

"You may have all heard or seen that Beacon is now playing host to the representatives of another Kingdom. Well starting today, High Lord Alexander Arc has kindly accepted my offer to oversee the Combat Classes until the start of the Vytal Festival." Ozpin said and on cue a door opened at the far end behind the two professors.

An armored form appeared in the doorway and stepping out from it was Alexander who had to duck to avoid hitting his head as he came into clear view. Unlike before Jaune could see his father was wearing ash white armor with a back surcoat and a crestless version of his regular helmet. Jaune began to groan loudly in despair that several people looked over to see what was going on.

"Let's give him a hand." Ozpin called out as he clapped his hands softly and the students began to clap respectfully as well. Though Pyrrha could see that more than a few of them look confused or shocked at what was going on which she didn't blame them as she wasn't sure how this would go. Next to her however Jaune finally sighed after he finished groaning.

"Someone kill me."

* * *

 **Bit extreme there wouldn't you say Jaune?**

 **Ah who am I kidding, I always feel like that whenever I see my parents coming out of nowhere to do something I wouldn't expect or really want.**

 **Lots of talking this chapter but ya know me, blood and gore is never far away besides sometimes faux political talk is nice to try writing even if it's bound to confuse or annoy someone.**

 **On a side note I will say that I wanted to get more done with this chapter but it's been 100+ in temperature which made writing then editing a nightmare of a task since I could barely focus. Plus I've lost my voice cause I got into a fight recently and apparently I'm not very accustomed with yelling in pure anger which has honestly also made me not feel like writing. Also let's not forget the collective boner for Cyberpunk 2077 with the godly good guy Keanu Reeves.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you thought about this chapter, so as always feel free to write in the review section or even PM me. A few of you know that I always try to discuss or address your thoughts or concerns.**

 **Till Next Time!**


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Alexander waited patiently as Ozpin left the room, Goodwitch was standing off no doubt waiting or watching to see how he would proceed. Looking up into the stands he could see Jaune with his head in his hands which he found amusing, so he began to unseal his helmet before finally taking it off.

"Alright then, let's get started." Alexander said, making sure to raise his voice as he tucked his helmet under his arm.

"Since you already know who I am let's skip the formalities. I will be your instructor for the remaining weeks till the Vytal Festival however where I'm from we do not train Huntsmen so you'll have to bear with me as the class will change to fit a structure that I'm more familiar with. Though don't worry about a grade here, that's not something that I'm concerned about along with that if there are any concerns in the structure of the class or how I teach it feel free to find me afterwards. With that being said let me start off class by discussing a special scenario that I've already got put together for you all. This scenario will be a simulated siege fight." Alexander said and a holographic screen appeared above him of a topographic map.

"In the Emerald Forest there is a hilltop fortification that is being constructed as we speak where there will be multiple teams fighting for it. The attacking team will have one hour to either eliminate the enemy completely or get someone inside where a device is located in the fortification. If the attackers can activate the device there will be a ten minute window for the defending team to disarm it if they don't disarm it then the attackers win if they do then they win. At the same time I will have some of my Praetorians acting as assistant instructors to retrieve students who are eliminated or prevent too much outside interference but be prepared to fight the Creatures of Grimm during this scenario. There are also a few rules of engagement, the first being that you are not obligated to help the opposing team if they're being attacked by the Grimm. As in this scenario you must think of your opponents as only enemies and not fellow students. With that being said I'm also aware that there are a number of you that have fighting styles, weapons or even semblances that can be destructive tools. So while collateral damage is inevitable and understandable. Reckless damage however is not as this scenario requires you to either take or retain control of the hilltop fortification. This means that a part of the win condition requires you to not damage or destroy it beyond use, for example if the attacking force takes the hilltop but are required to defend it against a counter attack from another hostile force but cannot use the defensive fortifications because they were significantly damaged or destroyed then at best it will provide no advantage and at worst hamper their defensive effort as a whole. With that said the teams will be announced but before that are there any questions?" Alexander finished but aside from a few murmurs no one seemed to have a question or at the very least didn't feel confident enough to ask it aloud.

"Alright I shall be calling out teams for attacking." Alexander said as a Praetorian appeared from the doorway he had come through holding a bag. As the Praetorian stopped in front of Alexander so he reached in and pulled out a slip of paper.

"The first team to be picked is team VOLT of Atlas." Alexander called out and a tall pale girl with braid blonde hair stood up in the immaculate Atlas uniform.

"We're here." She called out and Alexander nodded.

"You'll be on the attacking team." He replied then reached into the bag again.

"The next team is, team WITE from Haven."

"We're here!" Another teen called though Alexander ignored him as he pulled out a third piece of paper.

"Finally team CTRN from Beacon, these three teams will be attacking now then for the defending teams." Alexander said as he reached into the bag again pulling out three different pieces of paper.

"Teams MDNT, TMBR, and RWBY." Alexander called out and Jaune was surprised to see that when a few students looked at them. Ruby, Yang and shockingly enough Blake began to mock flex while Weiss just shook her head like some disapproving parent.

"Aww man, I wanted to break some legs." Nora said and Yang laughed as she looked up at them.

"I gotchu fam." The blond brawler said before fist bumping Nora.

"Ahem!" A voice rang out and the eight of them looked back down at Alexander who in turned watched them with neither an amused or annoyed look on his own face.

"With that done, we will continue to hold sparring practices for the next few days until the event, teams are recommend to gather and plan their strategies outside of class or come to me with questions. Now we still have time for a sparring match, I will call out combatants to get ready." He said before listing off five names that Jaune didn't recognize. However confusion seemed to brew at this and it became clear that his father had called for a team from Atlas and a random Haven student.

"Well what are you waiting for? Go!" Alexander barked out, his voice echoing like a gunshot. As the five students made their way to the lockers Pyrrha leaned towards him.

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" She asked and Jaune swallowed.

"Yup."

"I don't get it, what's he doing?" Ruby asked looking over her shoulder at Jaune.

"I think he's having a four on one match." Jaune explained.

"Well that's not something new; Pyrrha can go solo against a whole team." Ruby pointed out but Pyrrha shook her head.

"I wouldn't say that it is easy though good teamwork can sometimes be the deciding factor even against an opponent that's stronger or more skilled than any of them individually. This is another case." The red hair champion said gesturing to the sole combatant as he reentered the room wearing loose pants and a shirt with something on his arm that Jaune had to guess was his weapon.

"That's Hari Aluco, he's not bad but I would say he's far from being capable of winning even a two on one let alone four." Pyrrha said as she clasped her hands together under her chin.

"What's sort of weapon does he have? I can't tell from here." Weiss asked.

"Honestly, it looks like he's got some sort of vambrace with a slingshot attached to it." Blake said, her eyes giving her a better advantage at seeing the weapon.

"A slingshot? Yea that seems pretty useless." Yang said but Pyrrha shook her head.

"Hari is actually quite handy with that and he uses glass pellets with different powders in them that shatter on impact igniting the powder in it such as Burn or Ice Dust."

"Oh then it's sort of like Myrtenaster." Ruby chimed in.

"That still doesn't mean it will be useful in this fight, the only way he'll have a chance to win is if he out moves and hits each of his opponents with accurate debilitating shots." Ren pointed out and Pyrrha nodded.

"Like I said he's not cut out for this sort of fight, his fighting style is based around medium range support." Pyrrha said as the two sides squared off before Alexander started the fight.

Hari's opponents however unfair the match up was did not go easy on him. Jaune watched as the four person team immediately split up with one person going left and right as a third knelt down to fire some strange rifle sword as the largest one ran straight towards him wielding large Morning star that came apart with the head flying towards him on a long chain.

To the best of his abilities Hari managed to keep moving long enough to get a few hits with a few Ice Dust pellets which he tried to trap one or two of his attackers to give him room or Wind pellets to keep anyone from getting too close. Despite that with four people against him they eventually brought him down.

In the end the match only lasted about five minutes and a number of students were murmuring their discontent at the unfair odds.

"Since that lasted only for a short time, we'll have another match." Alexander said before calling out another five people then another and another. While some people got close to winning the result was always the same, the four person teams either won by sheer body count or better coordination and collective skill.

"This is, kind of hard to watch." Yang said as the final match ended, the bell had rung and Alexander simply dismissed them before leaving out the door he had come in from. The students were talking amongst themselves as they left and Pyrrha could hear the unease in most of them.

A few more hot tempered students actually wished that they had been called but many more had reservations about having to fight in uneven odds.

"I guess but I don't necessarily think it's bad." Jaune spoke up.

"Agreed, fighting outnumbered against the Grimm is an expected if not natural state of affair when we graduate." Ren chimed in.

"But that's different, Grimm are easy to understand besides which we'll never have to face people in the Outlands especially other Huntsmen." Ruby said but Blake shook her head.

"That's not true Ruby, Huntsmen and Huntresses that get contracts with the Councils or Police encounter mainly Humans or Faunus." Blake pointed out.

"The SDC also hires a few Huntsmen that graduate from Atlas and haven't joined the Military even more so when the White Fang grow more militant." Weiss said before grimacing as Blake glanced at her.

"Sorry."

"No need, I probably contributed to that need at some point." Blake said and none of them said anything until Nora sighed loudly from the back.

"Now this is awkward."

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Jay Beryl sighed as he sat in the top of a large tree watching another long convoy of eight wheeled trucks stop before dozens of soldiers climbed aboard them to remove their contents.

A few hundred feet away from them was one of the many Arcadian camps being assembled throughout the area surrounding Beacon, the foreign soldiers had been industrial in chopping down what he had to assume was at least six or seven dozen trees to make room for their camp.

Their presence in the Emerald Forest had been solidified over the last week, with their apparent acquittal at the Council Hearing they were given leave to make camp anywhere outside the actual city of Vale.

So every day the people of Vale and their guests from the other Kingdoms watched as aircraft and support vessels moved men and supplies inland before being offload several miles south of Beacon to be moved overland to the various regimental camps that were located near Beacon.

During which the sound of fighting had been reported from a number of civilian sources though Ironwood had explained that the Arcadians had a few skirmishes with the Creatures of Grimm as they established themselves in the Emerald Forest.

The Vale Council still reeling from the hammer blow of evidence that saw nearly twenty staff members of various Council Representatives imprisoned for treason and aiding in terrorism however still decided that keeping an eye on the Arcadians with their own people was a smart thing. As the notion that Ironwood was playing both sides had started to float around amongst them.

Now he along with a dozen other Huntsman and Huntresses that happen to have standing contracts to the Vale Council were forced to keep an eye on the Arcadians activities.

He had to admit though it was probably a smart bet; aside from Atlas and the SDC none of the Kingdoms have this sort of military presence in another Kingdom.

Sighing he looked up at the sky, there weren't any clouds but it was still chilly out. A few of the trees were also starting to look discolored as autumn rolled in.

Jay froze however when he heard something snap and looked down to see a squad of soldiers moving near the trunk of the tree he was hiding in. He slowed his breathing down as he laid down straining to hear despite the noise of construction in the distance.

"I can't believe the Captain is making us go out here, second platoon already did a sweep." One of them said as he rested his rifle against the tree then took off his helmet.

"Man, I don't know what you're complaining about, this is so much better than hauling lumber." Another said as the others gathered around, a few taking sips from green canteens as they removed their own helmets.

"That's because the Captain has his orders just as we do, now put your fucking helmets back on." A woman snapped and with evident reluctance the soldiers gathering their belongings once more.

"Relax Sarge; the Captain isn't going to jump down our throats about this." The first man said.

"It's not him I'm worried about." The female soldier replied.

"I don't get it."

"It's about the Housecarls; the whole regiment is buzzing how the Decanus of the Housecarls told Heider and the Regimental officers to be on the lookout for any uninvited observers from Vale."

"Shit, really?"

"No Kasker, I'm obviously making that up."

"Was that sarcasm Sarge?" The soldier asked before having to duck a rock chucked at his head.

The squad of soldiers laughed however as they moved out of view and Jay released a sigh of relief. Though hearing that apparently the protectors of the Arcadian High Lord were cautioning the soldiers to be vigilant meant that he still didn't trust Vale. Which in hindsight was probably reasonable move since he was there essentially spying on his forces.

With the Vytal Festival getting closer and closer things were going to become even more befuddled. The line of who's the enemy was now no longer clear.

Headmaster Ozpin had essentially secluded himself in his tower like a willing prisoner while General Ironwood plays politics with the Vale Council. Lastly were all the troubles that had started boiling over in Vale with Torchwick, the White Fang, and now Arcadia.

Sighing once more he figured the first chance he gets he would leave Vale while it was the center of attention.

As the distance supply convoy pulled away he wondered what Mistral was like this time of year, rumor had it that a new batch of jobs were popping up there.

* * *

 **Later that Night…**

Alexander stood in the temporary tent being used as the 14th Division's field Headquarters where the 71st Heavy Infantry commanded by Heider's most senior Colonel was stationed in. The other four regiments were spread out across roughly twenty miles north, east and south of Beacon.

All around the tent staff officers were setting up tables then laying out maps of the surrounding terrain while Vox-Operators hooked their gear into portable generators or tested them by contacting each other or other camps.

Off to the side Colonel Hjalmur Astmarsson entered the tent with his three battalion commanders and joined the other colonels and their respective battalion commanders all of whom waited for Alexander to start speaking.

"Evening ladies and gentleman, thank you for meeting me here." Alexander finally said as Heider stood next to him and the assembled officers threw him a crisp salute but he waved it down.

"Let me first start this off by asking if you're all getting situated fine in your positions." Alexander said and they gave a chorus of affirmatives and Alexander sighed on the inside.

"While I appreciate that, I want the truth; this isn't the parade ground and I more than aware that this is something that isn't a common feature in Army Doctrine. Now speak." Alexander said pointing randomly and a Faunus woman snapped a salute.

"Major Fischer, 4th Battalion, 73rd Line Infantry. We're located on the southern edge of the Emerald Forest our positions are mostly secured but my captains have already submitted reports saying that several skirmishes have broken out with the Grimm, if this continues we will be requesting additional munition sooner than expected and I'm a little concerned that if this were to occur along the entire line then the Navy supply ships won't be able to keep as well supplied as we'd like." Alexander nodded.

"Thank you for the observation and yes I've already placed additional requisition orders, extra supplies are being prepared both for the fleet and Division will be here in a little more than a week. If demand continues to increase Brigadier General Meidner and Governor Kagiris of the Hurin Valleys have already offered their own reserves in case we need them. Next?" Alexander said and another officer raised their hand.

"Major Haneke, 2nd Battalion, 75th Heavy Armor, we are actually have some civilian trouble."

"In what way?" Alexander asked.

"News reporters are taking pictures and videos of us from a distance beyond our perimeter line and we're not sure what our standing orders are on dealing with the civilian press from the Four Kingdoms."

"I'll look into getting Ironwood to put some pressure on the Vale Council for a media restriction until the Vytal Festival is over but most likely they'll deny us so keep on guard against anyone trying to go snooping around the camps and Heider issue a notice in the morning that all Arcadian personnel are to avoid getting into conversations with civilians or civilian press there's no telling whether or not they'll be recording even the briefest of interactions. Anything else?"

"Sir?" A man called out and Alexander nodded to him.

"Major Osterholt, 3rd Battalion, 72nd Line Infantry, I've got a question about our strategic goals. I know we're here in case things had fallen through with the Four Kingdoms in securing Lady Lilith but she's free now so why are we here?"

"All you need to worry about is your battalion and completing orders Major." Heider said but Alexander raised a hand to stop him.

"It is fine Heider, now, Captain, as to why we're here you were on the mark with what you said about forcibly taking back our people. Now though with that out of the way, I know you have all heard about the battle up north in the Hurin Valleys, correct?" The assembled officers nodded or voice their affirmation.

"Well the reason you're here is in part to add extra security against the possibility that if the Archenemy have managed to slip from our grasps try to attack the Four Kingdoms or nearby Outland towns or villages we'll have a force on hand that can actively defend or counterattack. Make no mistake; we're on an interpositional mission that borders open conflict." Alexander explained and the assembled officers muttered amongst themselves but no one seemed to have any other pressing concerns.

"Alright then briefing packets will be assembled then distributed within two or three days till then button it up and ladies and gentlemen I know occasionally those nasty things called thoughts occasionally come into your mind but for my sake and sanity please sit on it until you can talk with someone smarter than you cause I rather not do extra paper work. Now return to your units." Heider said and the assembled officers snapped crisps salutes before marching out of the tent.

Outside the sounds of construction resumed as the accompanying Enginseer Battalion which was spread out amongst the Division returned from their break in getting the camps to a functional level with the added support of the soldiers for manual labor.

Each camp had two outer trenches filled with razor wire or tank traps. Then a large dirt earthwork that served both as a dumping ground from the trenches and dugouts along with serving as place to place heavy stubber nests.

Inside the camps, the soldiers had square or rectangle dugouts in the ground roughly four to five feet deep before setting tents over them to add a modicum of protection as sandbags are lined around them. Though mainly this practice was to allow space for soldiers to stand up in them without having the tents stand too far out from the ground.

At the same time he had to worry about the mock battle in the coming days along with the reports of Grimm movement rising again not only in the north but to the east and south as well. In the last twenty four hours three Outland towns had been attack with two of them being destroyed with no survivors.

The third was only able to fend them off because a group of Huntsmen were traveling by road to Vale for the Vytal Festival.

Then in Arcadia Army units were engaged by the Archenemy but not in Irkalla. The fighting had taken place in Ambracia the furthest western province of his Kingdom.

The last time the Archenemy had been sighted there was nearly four decades ago after the 21st Army Corp had its back broken by the advancing Archenemy at the Orotos River in Sharlor after ignoring the bulk of the 22nd Army Corp in Irkalla. Worst of all he had yet to figure out how exactly the enemy had gotten to Sanus.

"Sir?" A voice asked and Alexander turned to a helmed Housecarl though he recognized who it was by the fact the Housecarl had a longsword at their waist.

"What is it Areto?"

"The Valkyries are ready to leave when you are sir."

"Not yet I need to get into contact with Commander Alethia and tell her to relay a message to Arabella and Vidus."

"You can give the message to me my Lord, Demeli and Rallidis are outside and will escort you back to Beacon."

"Fair enough, tell Vidus to send another Centuria here, as for Arabella I need her to talk to the House Havengrip or Raulon for support then have Talbek speak with the Silent Ones about lending their support as well. Lastly let the Sisterhood know that they can send a Mission or two to get settled here as well." Alexander said but Areto didn't seem to respond and Alexander narrowed his eyes as he didn't hear anything. This in itself was odd as he was in the middle of an active Army encampment.

Something rustled behind him and Alexander reached out grabbing Areto's sheathed blade pulling it out as he spun around. The sword erupted in a blue glow as the power field was activated and the shining blade came around cleaving a green hair woman in a grey dress in two at the waist.

Instead of the stench of ozone, cooked flesh and the sound of blood boiling away on the activated blade there was nothing nor did the woman stand in front of him.

"As I suspected but it does hurt me a little that you would do that first." A woman's voice said. Alexander spun to see the same woman though she was now sitting crossed leg on one of the tables in the tent watching him with crimson eyes with vertical pupils. Though considering what happened he already knew she wasn't really Human or Faunus.

"Who are you?" Alexander asked raising the sword to point at the woman.

"Ah yes we've never actually met, I am Ataecina." The woman said after breathing through her nose where smoke emerged and Alexander remembered something Talbek had told him a long time ago.

"The Grey lady? I know of you, you and Talbek Stonefang fought nearly eighty years ago just before the Great War but now he claims you're an ally." Alexander said lowering his sword.

"That pretty much sums it up and yes if it was ever truly necessary I would come to your aid and believe it or not there are actually a few others who would do so as well."

"Forgive me if I'm still a little skeptical on that. I've not had the best experience with your kind, as they're not so civil." The woman laughed.

"Well I am afraid that all I can do for you if give an apology on behalf of my younger kin, emotions for them are of a much rawer sort."

"I don't need an apology, I've seen enough of them die for their deeds and I know you're not like them." Alexander said walking around the still frozen Areto and watched as the woman's eyes seemed to flash at his remark.

"Come now, that was so long ago and if I may say so I was actually there when you slew the Elder that led the others against your people and before you say anything I know he gave you no choice in the matter."

"So what brings you to me? I know most of your kind avoids my Kingdom, Menagerie and the Four Kingdoms unless you have a good reason."

"True and first let me just say that I'm not the only one that's visited Vale in the last few months nor am I even the second though I cannot entirely guess what they wanted, the only one who might tell you sits in his tower watching all that is unfolding around him with the patience of someone who is used to it." Alexander frowned; he knew she meant Ozpin but if that was the case then he was right to suspect that Ozpin knew more than he was letting on. The woman slid off the table then walked towards him, she wasn't tall but the air started to feel warm and heavy.

"Our mutual enemies are swimming around you like predators of the oceans when blood spills. They are so close to you yet you cannot see them it almost scares me at your lack of sight. The man in the tower's sight is clouded by his past and arrogance while the others do not know what it is they're looking at as they fight a war they do not know they're in or even understand. You however should know better but it seems while you rightful are worried about one enemy you've let the other spread its influence."

"I know that but I cannot force the others to bend to my will to combat every threat there is."

"You can though; you've got the strength to do it."

"For something with such great power you still struggle to understand that to use it in this case will bring more harm than good."

"True but I'm not beholden to these mortal fears you have."

"If you can't understand nor are willing to try then don't presume to try telling me what I should do." Alexander said and the woman said nothing as he looked at her eyes however he could see that the pupils had expanded to the point that her red iris was all but gone then it snapped back to normal.

"My time is short, others know I'm here and are upset that I'm speaking with you."

"What does that mean?"

"To put it simply there is a pact of sorts that means unless certain things happen we must not interfere at all and that even means that divulging a piece of vital knowledge can have terrible consequences." She said waving away his question without a care and Alexander's face tightened with anger.

"Do not speak to me of consequences; I've seen countless lives snuffed out with battlefields with the dead covering every inch of those that face not only the Grimm but those that dwell beyond. I've seen towns, cities, even empires burn with the damnation of traitors. I've seen the twisted shadows of those that get corrupted and I've put my sword in thousands of them. I've seen worlds die as the light of a species flickers and grows dimmer as fools destroy everything that was built up to save them." Alexander hissed before a somber feeling took over his brief flare up as he looked to the ceiling of the tent.

"Someone is a little testy." Ataecina said and Alexander sighed as he closed his eyes.

"I know what lies in wait for me and my people, I know what happens if I fail."

"Ah yes the burden of responsibility now that is something I can understand." Ataecina said as she crossed her arms and looked at the tent opening.

"I have to go for now."

"Go where?"

"Somewhere."

"Like?"

"Don't worry about that, I just need to leave, I've spent too long here." She said gesturing to the still frozen Areto.

"Fair enough." As Ataecina turned away she stopped to look back at him.

"Good luck." She said then she was gone.

"Is that all my Lord?" Areto asked and Alexander turned to her.

"Yes." He said.

"Uh, my Lord?" She asked.

"What is it?"

"Why do you have my weapon?" She asked pointing down and Alexander realized he still had her sword. He handed it back to her allowing her to sheath the blade.

"Just make sure to pass my orders along Praetorian." Alexander said as he strode out of the tent, his mood darkening as he began to think.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

It was the day of the test, team RWBY and five other teams sat in the passenger compartments of two separate Arcadian Valkyries.

While the defending team didn't know where the attacking team was heading as their Valkyrie had peeled away from them the moment they left Beacon however they could all see their own destination after a few minutes into the flight.

The place they would have to defend was a relatively wide but not so tall hill; if Yang had to guess its elevation was roughly less than twenty meters.

In the center was a large wood tower though the height was sort of defeated by the fact that it looked like the top of the hill had been excavated out along with an outer trench.

"Are you guys ready?" A voice called out and Yang looked to see Mell Saporo, the leader of team MDNT, looking at them.

"Yea we're good." Ruby said and the other team leader nodded.

"What do you think about this match?" Mell asked and Ruby frowned as she looked at her teammates.

"Well we know it's going to be hard that's for sure." She said and Mell rolled her eyes.

"I know that but you're friends with the Arc boy, did he give you any insight about what his father is like?" Weiss chuckled softly at that as they shook their heads.

"He didn't say much but what he did say we've already seen."

"That's not very cheering."

"Look, it's not going to be forever the Vytal Festival is about to start in a few days besides which we should focus on the fight." Tara Leu, the leader of team TMBR chimed in.

"Right, how are we going about this again?" Yang asked and Weiss sighed.

"You were there when we came up with the plan; we're splitting up the teams into ranged and melee. You will of course be with the melee team along with Blake while Ruby and I will be ranged. The same will go for teams MDNT and TMBR." Weiss explained as the Valkyrie began to descend.

"Twenty seconds, get ready!" The pilot's voice called out over the internal speaker system. The twelve students stood up as the rear ramp opened and without being told they got out of the Valkyrie before it was even ten feet to the ground.

"So what now?" Someone said as the Valkyrie flew away.

"We have to assume the test has started, so let's get inside the base and get familiar with the lay out then figure out how we can defend it to the best effect." Ruby called out and the others nodded before spreading out.

Over the next fifteen minutes the twelve of them were able to get a basic understanding of the hilltop layout. At the top was an excavated area with a fire step lined with wood from the Emerald Forest and dirt filled sandbags that lined the edges.

In the center the tower wasn't that big but it was high enough that when they climb the ladder inside that they could see the bottom of the hill. As for its survivability they noticed that it was a made mostly from wood, at its thickest was two feet while the weakest looking to be about six inches with a thin layer of metal bolted on the outside.

All across the perimeter though were small tunnels only wide enough for one person to go through at a time that led to the outer trench. There the trench was wide enough for three of them to stand side by side while a fourth could stand on the fire step. Every fifty feet or so were what Yang assumed were machine gun nests that bulged out from the trench line covered with boards on top allowing for a foot long opening that faced downhill.

"Well, it's not too bad but I doubt we'll get much use for it." A brown hair guy said as the twelve of them got back together at the base of the tower. If Yang guessed correctly he had to be from team TMBR.

"Razz is right, we're not fighting Grimm, we're fighting other students so sitting still and trying to trade fire isn't gonna have much effect." Tara mused.

"Yea but I don't think we should discount it either." Another guy, this one tall but a little too lean for her taste, said.

"Linell is right, the Arcadians don't fight like us but that doesn't mean they don't know how to fight." Ruby said and Yang had to agree with her little sister. She could still remember the awe inspiring sight of the firepower that they could bring both on the Grimm while mixing it up with flexible maneuverability and variety against Human opponents.

Which at the same time those thoughts drew her back to those dark events; even now she did feel a little hesitant to think about those bloody hours.

Yang was no stranger to a fight or the sight of blood and broken bones. Yet there was much more than that in the Hurin Valleys.

She could still hear the nerve rending cries of people begging for helping or the blood curling screams of people in unimaginable pain as they were hacked, sliced or genuinely torn apart.

"Okay, then what?" Linell asked.

"We stick with the plan, split up into pairs since we'll have to space ourselves out. Range teams will engage first while melee teams hide in the Heavy Stubber nests."

"Heavy Stubbers?" Razz asked.

"Oh, right, I meant Heavy Machine Guns." Ruby corrected.

"Whatever, did anyone find where the device is?"

"There's a hatch in the bottom of the tower, it leads into a corridor where the device is on some pedestal at the end of it. Though I also have to say, it's got some buttons on it but I don't know how it works." Blake said

"Okay what does that mean?" Yang asked.

"So, it means that Arc never told us how to defuse it only that we have to if they activate it." Weiss explained

"Oh."

"Are you sure there weren't like, instructions or something?" Tara asked and Blake shrugged.

"I won't lie and say there isn't since I didn't do a full search. I just got close enough to know that it's our objective."

"Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out at some point." Weiss said and Ruby nodded along.

"Blake was the hatch hidden at least?" She asked but the Faunus shook her head.

"Aside from some chairs and a table it sticks out like a sore thumb."

"Well, look for stuff around to hide it maybe some crates or more sandbags other than that there's nothing else we can do. However if we have to fall back act like the device is at the top of the tower in the heat of the moment the attackers might not notice anything out of place." Ruby said and they all nodded.

"We should get going now, who knows if the attackers are in place already." Tang said and once again they all nodded or voiced their agreements.

Yang watched as Ruby dragged Weiss with her as she followed along with her own partner. Blake already had Gambol Shroud out and was inspecting it again.

Yang was no stranger to the idea of double checking if Ember Celica was in working order or if her spare shotgun shells were properly secured. The way Blake was checking her weapon spoke of a different kind of need.

"Are you good?" Yang asked but Blake didn't respond so Yang pushed her a little and Blake yelped as her balance was momentarily thrown off.

"Yang, what was that for?" She asked but Yang poked her forehead.

"Your mind was obviously elsewhere Blake; I was just bringing it back."

"Well you don't have to do that."

"You sure?"

"I am."

"Well I'm glad one of us is."

"Yang."

"What? We've always known this world had monsters in the form of Grimm or terrible people but now we know it's now a world of gods and monsters or monstrous people." Yang said.

"Look Yang, I get it, I'm not entirely okay with what Jaune told us but what can we do? We can't ignore them, we can't negotiate with them, and so that leaves us one option left."

"And I'm fine with that, give me a freak with some googly eyes to punch in the face and I'll call it a day."

"Really?"

"A good fight is a good fight."

"What if it's more than just a fight?"

"That's a different sort of question to be asking."

"But one I think you should consider." Blake said as they reached the outer trench. At that moment Ruby waved to them just as a recognizable crack echoed in the distance, Yang jumped forward activating Ember Celica just as Ruby fell down clutching her hand.

In the sky above them Blake noticed several devices that she assumed were drones circling over them and realized that they must be recording or streaming them back to Beacon for the others to watch.

Ruby was back on her feet again waving Yang away as she pulled out Crescent Rose to begin firing at whoever had shot her along with Weiss who sent several ice chunks soaring downhill. The sound of fighting began to rumble more in the distance and they knew that the others were now locked in combat as well.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Jaune and his team sat with the rest of the students of their combat class as they watched various screens of airborne drones that were live streaming the fight on the hilltop.

While it was exciting to watch six teams fight three on three, Jaune suspected that there was a small amount of relief at simply not having to do lopsided matches anymore for a day.

As by this point all of the students including his team had dealt with the odd fighting arrangements of the last few days. Even the best fighters amongst them had lost a few matches after his father made them fight not just one team but multiple.

For instance Pyrrha, Yang, and Nora had each faced one team then won. As such his father would get two teams to come down and fight them immediately.

Nora would be the first to get knocked while Yang and Pyrrha did fine. Yet to Jaune it was clear that they had only won with the help of their semblances.

Then it became ridiculous when his father made the two of them fight three teams each, Yang would lose here after just getting overwhelmed as the other teams had all seen how strong she was and planned around that.

Pyrrha would just barely scrape by as well and when his father said that she'll have to face four teams surprisingly enough she refused. This led his father to giving Pyrrha her first detention at Beacon citing her refusal to follow his directions as an instructor.

Jaune's sudden popularity of him being royalty had also disappeared though it didn't go back to normal; instead there was now an increase of resentment that was being directed to him. No one had done anything overt but Jaune felt the glares that other students would give him occasionally.

"I'm glad the event is today, I was already getting pretty tired of those matches." Nora said as they watched an explosion on screen rip apart one of the hilltop's faux heavy stubber nest.

"I can't help but agree." Pyrrha said

"Yea but you technically won all of your matches." Nora pointed out.

"True but I would have lost that last fight, it is one thing to fight a whole team alone but fighting multiple teams is just ridiculous at a certain point." Pyrrha replied.

"But the Creatures of Grimm tend to outnumber us." Ren said but Jaune shook his head.

"I think fighting other students is different than fighting the Grimm. The Grimm may outnumber us and even be far stronger but they can't coordinate as well as people nor do they think on the spot as we can." Jaune explained.

"That's fair but considering what you told us and what we fought against in the Hurin Valleys, I can't help but feel that this is actually good training." Ren replied and none of them disagreed with that viewpoint.

"So, who do you think is going to win?" Nora asked changing the topic and Jaune shrugged.

"I think the defenders will win." Pyrrha said and Jaune looked at her.

"What makes you think that? We've seen most of them fight and I think it's clear that they're all capable fighters."

"True but this isn't really about fighting, this is about teamwork hence why there's so many teams in this. The side most capable of using each person to their best effect no doubt wins." Pyrrha said as on the red cape of Ruby and pale form of Weiss fought with a pair of students further down the hill.

"You say that but honestly, I think it's really just going to come down to luck." Nora said and Jaune nodded as Pyrrha shook her head.

"That's ridiculous Nora, not all battles can be won by luck."

"I wouldn't disagree with that but to discount how lucky a person is would be dumb in my opinion." The other girl said and Jaune shared a look of resignation with Ren as the two began to bicker a little. Jaune tuned them out as he turned his attention back to the screen.

One of the cameras was focusing on the attacking students; one had a single edge sword that turned into a bayoneted rifle while the other had some kind of pair of long barreled pistols.

As it panned back up the hill he could see Ruby and Weiss moving with their semblances allowing them to mostly avoid getting hit but more than once they had to abruptly stop or change directions as a well-timed shot nearly hit them.

With a well-placed shot or ironically pure luck Ruby went down again after taking a hit to the head, though her Aura saved her life the blow was still hard enough to knock her off balance which sent her out of view as she fell inside the trench line that surrounded the hilltop.

Weiss then summoned a wall of ice to cover her as both attacking students directed their fire on her just before jumping into the trench.

To their right Blake and Yang appeared from the trench making their way towards the two students as fast as they can.

As the two of them advanced on the pair of students they began to backpedal while two other students emerged from the Emerald forest.

One of them was a large male student that was carrying a weapon similar to a Pernach except when he leveled it at his waist and twisted the haft only for the head to open up like a flower before starting to spin.

A lance of yellow energy shot out at Blake who dodged the beam with her semblance before zeroing in on him as Yang continued towards the first two.

The other student that stood with the Pernach wielder was a tall female in rather, odd armor, which for some reason left little to the imagination. As such Jaune knew it was the leader of VOLT, who he had coincidentally lost against earlier that week.

She wore a chest plate, a vambrace on her right arm, a pair of greaves and two tassets that were on a belt wrapped around black synthetic shorts other than there wasn't anything else covering her rather well built body. He shook his head as he remember his fight with her and seeing some interesting curves.

Strangely he ended up having to convince Pyrrha that he didn't lose because he could see a lot more skin than he should have.

As the Pernach wielder fired again at Blake, Viola would push forward with her weapon, a spiked war hammer, held ready.

Jaune leaned forward as Viola closed in on Yang as she had her back turned to her fighting the other two students.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Yang sidestepped the upward slash of the rifle spear then sent a left hook inward to hammer the wielder's elbow shifting his weapon off balanced before planting an uppercut into his solar plexus which lifted him off his feet long enough for Yang to sending a second punch into his gut slamming him back into the ground.

The other student came at her with a long bladed dagger in his left hand with a revolver in his right which rested on his left forearm as he held the dagger pointing out in a reverse grip.

Yang backpedalled making a small effort to block some shots of the pistol with Ember Celica but other than that she let a few slip past to hit her. She knew that there was another student approaching fast from behind her and her instincts warned her that it might be a good idea to be ready.

The sound of something heavy whistling through the air was enough of a warning to let her fire both of her gauntlets at a low angle to suddenly bring her out of the expected path of the unknown weapon.

A second later there was a loud crack and as Yang landed on her feet she looked back to see a partially naked girl that she recognized from Jaune's fight with a war hammer that had cratered the square meter of ground she had been standing on a moment before.

"Well aren't you a free spirit." Yang called out as she punched the air twice sending two clouds of Burn Dust shells at the pistol and dagger student who moved out of the way before coming at her from a low angle.

She leaned back avoiding the initial thrust of his dagger before grabbing his extended wrist with her right hand then pulling him close as she sent a high knee into his torso sending him stumbling back.

However unlike the first guy he avoided the follow up punch but Yang expected that as she aimed a low punch for his legs taking him in the left knee but she had to break away as the taller girl came in with a wide horizontal swing.

Unfortunately for Yang, Viola's size didn't slow her down at all nor did the heavy looking weapon make much difference in swinging speed.

Yang ducked another blow then moved into her guard sending an upper cut aimed for her chin but the girl stepped back.

However Yang felt the shaft of her weapon impact the back of her head as she was dragged forward only for the taller girl to smash her forehead into Yang's nose causing an explosion of white in her vision.

Anger flared through her as she fired off two shells at close range taking the girl in the chest and stomach but as a testament to her own resilience she stayed on her feet. Yang however wasn't planning on letting her go back on the offensive as she charged Viola fully ignoring the sound of two different caliber pistols firing and the deep thrum of some Dust or energy weapon firing.

Yang sidestepped a downward strike then hammered two blows into her side before sending another upper cut that connected this time sending the taller girl reeling as Yang followed her.

She checked the next swing of the war hammer by striking the girl's left forearm then punched her chest before sending a low kick that hit the inside of her right knee.

Yang however wasn't prepared to have her other leg pulled sideways breaking her balance as she rolled into it and got back to her feet she didn't have time to block the follow up strike from the war hammer

The flat hammer head smashed into her face sending Yang sprawling to the ground her vision swimming for a few seconds before she quickly rolled aside to avoid another blow that left a crater where her head had been.

As she got to her feet she had to move her head aside to avoid the spike on top of the hammer but the girl brought her back using the curved back hook to pull on Yang's shoulder putting her off balanced.

Spinning with the momentum was the right move in getting her balance back but it afforded little room to move out of the hammer's return path.

Raising her right arm up to intercept the weapon before sending a kick aimed at the girl's unprotected stomach Yang was surprised as the girl caught the kick then moved in to tackle her to the ground.

Yang tried to tuck her other leg in to break the hold the girl was trying to get her in but she wasn't surprised when Viola kept her grip.

"Yang!" Blake shouted in the distance only for it the punctuated by the thrum sound of the weapon the fourth student had. As Yang continued to grapple with the tall girl Blake cried out in the distance and Weiss started shouting out to her.

Yang felt the anger from before resurge then spill over as her semblance kicked in and was able to pry the other girl's hands off her before getting to her feet then body slamming Viola back to the ground.

Then Yang straddled her chest putting her knees on Viola's shoulders then began slam her fists repeatedly into the blond girl's face.

Viola struggled hard against Yang trying to toss her off while fending off the blows but her resistance began to fade with each hit but Yang lost count after twenty but stopped when her Aura began to shimmer then visibly crack.

The rage that had filled her was gone now and she looked around to see one of the Praetorians lifting the unconscious body of the rifle spear guy she had beaten up earlier along with the guy with the dagger revolvers.

Yang felt a presence behind her and instinct kicked in as she spun around already in mid swing. She was surprised however that the Praetorian that had approached for Viola took the shells without even breaking stride.

"Shit! I didn't mean to do that." Yang said but the Praetorian said nothing as he or she lifted the unconscious girl she had beaten along with her war hammer.

As the Praetorian moved aside Yang spotted the last member of team VOLT crumbling under the relentless assault from Weiss. The Heiress moved in and out of striking range while keeping mobile enough that his heavy ranged weapon couldn't keep up.

Yang suddenly remembered hearing Blake's cry and turned around to see Ruby helping the Faunus girl up to her feet.

"Blake! Are you okay?" Yang called out as she ran back up the hill to her and she nodded.

"Yea I took out Grizz but I guess during that time Lye got the shot he needed." She said as Yang pulled out her Scroll to check the status of the team.

Out of the four of them Blake was doing the worst the blow that she had received had dropped her Aura by half leaving her hovering just shy of a third left in the bar. Her Aura along with Ruby weren't doing as good as well with their Aura over a quarter gone while Weiss was still in the green.

"Come on we need to get back to the trench line." Ruby said.

"She's right plus we don't know how the other teams are doing." Blake said as she stood up straight and Ruby nodded.

"Alright, Yang and I will go along the trench to check on the others if we spot anyone needing help we'll move to engage other than that there is no need to get caught up in their fight just move on until we meet back here." Ruby said looking at Yang who nodded as Weiss joined them.

"What are we talking about?" Weiss asked and Yang filled her in.

"Shouldn't I go then? I'm not as fast as Ruby but I am faster than you."

"Heh."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"Focus." Blake called out as she walked towards the trench and Yang sighed.

"Fine I can stay here to watch the forest in case some of the other teams sent additional people this way."

"Actually I think the Grimm will probably show up next." Ruby said and Weiss nodded.

"We are in the Emerald Forest and High Lord Arc did say that his Praetorians wouldn't stop all of them." Weiss mused but Yang put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it I've got this." She said as such Weiss and Ruby took off in either direction down the trench. Yang made her way to the trench and sat down next to Blake who sat on a pile of sandbags that were pressed against the backside of the trench.

"Shouldn't you be watching the line?" Blake asked and Yang snorted as she took out a belt of shells before loading them back into Ember Celica.

"I know but we'll know soon enough if the Creatures of Grimm are in fact here which I doubt since we're so close to the Arcadian camps that it would be surprisingly sloppy if they had Grimm so close without taking care of them beforehand. Aside from that do you honestly think the other two teams would split their teams up like that? VOLT didn't split up and we still bodied them pretty quickly." Yang explained and Blake blinked in surprise before nodding.

"True but that doesn't mean they didn't have an equal shot at taking us out. Violet is a pretty competent fight and it looked like she had you on the back foot up until the end."

"Nah, I totally had it under control."

"Yang it's me, you don't have to put up a front."

"Front? What makes you think I'm putting up a front, Violet's a good fighter, strong and fast for her size but that doesn't mean I'm not better nor have I diminished her as well."

"Relax Yang I didn't mean anything by it, why are you getting so defensive?"

"I'm not defensive."

"Then why are your eyes red?"

"I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Yang."

"Fine, you're right I am getting really annoyed with this topic so can we drop it?"

"If you say so."

"What do you want from me Blake?"

"Nothing, I was just concerned."

"Well don't be." Yang said as she stood up and stepped onto the trench fire step. Looking over the row of sandbags she looked back down the hill and paused.

"Uh, Blake."

"What?"

"I think you should see this." Yang said and Blake sighed as she stood up again tucking Gambol Shroud onto her back as she stepped onto the fire step. Looking over the bags she could see the edge of the Emerald Forest.

Standing there in grey armor with a crestless version of the first helmet they saw him wear and a long plain greatsword stuck into the ground was Alexander Arc. Nor was he alone as to his left and right was the ten Housecarls in grey suits of armor armed with what seemed like simpler version of their normal poleaxes along with sheathed swords at their waists.

"Well this can't be good."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

A renewed buzz emerged from the students and Jaune felt a cold sweat break out on his screen as the main screen seemed to zoom in on his father.

Looking around he wasn't surprised to only see the black armored Praetorians of the Legion standing guard at pinnacle points of the room instead of the customary Housecarls like before.

"So, is he doing what I think he's doing?" Ren asked and Jaune didn't answer at first as he was still trying to figure out what his father was doing.

"I would point out that Goodwitch never actually fought but only interjected when she needed to stop a blow that might have done more harm that it should but after this last week I can't say this isn't all that surprising." Pyrrha said as she glanced at him but Jaune swept his hair back.

"Well this is going to be interesting." Nora said as attention redoubled amongst the students at this new development.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

Captain Aldona Sprecher, commanding officer of the 8th Field Battery of the 62nd Field Artillery attached to the 14th Infantry Division, stood watching her Battery double check their pieces. Before her was six Goliath Artillery Guns, each of their crews had a set of shells standing nearby as they waited for her order.

Lord Arc had sent the message earlier that morning to Colonel Herzberg that three of his Batteries were needed in his special exercise.

Now she just waited till the time matched her orders, though she did feel some slight discomfort at raining shells down on students from the Four Kingdoms. At the same time she knew a good soldier never questioned orders, no matter how odd they were.

"Captain, it's time." A voice said so Sprecher looked over her shoulder to see her second in commander, Lieutenant Joachim Lilienthal, standing with a data slate in hand.

"Alright then Lieutenant, give the order." Sprecher said and the Lieutenant nodded before shouting out orders. The artillery crews began to scramble as the guns were raised and shells slotted into them. Sprecher watched with satisfaction as in less than thirty seconds all six guns were loaded and ready to fire with their crews waiting for the final order before raising a hand.

"Fire!"

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Yang climbed out of the trench as the eleven armored figures began to make their way up the hill. Blake was right behind her with her Scroll in hand trying to call Ruby and Weiss.

"Do you think he's a part of the exercise?" Blake asked and as if in response to her question the two of them could see him slip the helmet on his head.

"Well now this is something I can get behind." Yang said as she slammed her fists together.

"Wait Yang, let Ruby and Weiss come then we can take them on." Blake said. Yang however felt the rising need to fight come but she held onto it as she looked at her partner.

"You're right but if they get too close then I'll hold them off while you get the others here. Hopefully by now the other teams are done on their end and can come." Yang said and Blake nodded as they looked back down the hill.

At that moment they heard a dim boom like thunder but as Yang looked at the slightly cloudy sky she knew that it was a false sound.

"Blake?! What's going on!?" Ruby called out over the Scroll as Blake's call went through.

"Get over here as soon as you can, Alexander and the Praetorians are attacking!" Blake yelled just before grabbing Yang and pulling her backwards into the trench much to her surprise.

As Yang rolled off Blake there were multiple loud popping sounds that rang out as Yang peered over the trench lip. White smoke was drifting low over the ground and she could see the faint sight of something burning but there wasn't any clear indicator of an explosion.

Then she saw ten armored figures emerge from the smoke at a slow trot and Yang felt that there was something strange about how the Housecarls moved. The movements of their bodies seemed to be right yet it felt like she was watching a video at half speed.

"Should we fight?" Blake asked raising Gambol Shroud and Yang readied her own weapons.

"Let's do this." She said before unloading Ember Celica downhill at the approaching Housecarls. Like a flock of birds the Housecarls split up five to each side, Blake added to the gunfire as she followed the five on the left as Yang focused on the right.

"Go!" Yang said and launched herself forward not waiting for Blake's response as she closed in on the closest Housecarl. Pulling her right arm back just before impact, Yang hoped to catch the Praetorian off balanced but the Housecarl stopped short swinging their poleaxe up towards Yang.

The hammer head hit Yang in the shoulder pulling her out of the air with jerk and she rolled down the hill a few feet before getting back to her feet just in time to catch the spike on top of another poleaxe in the chest as a second Housecarl closed in.

She backpedaled with the blow cursing viciously as she could see the five of them spread around her.

In the corner of her eye another poleaxe soared for her and she brought up her right arm deflecting it but the strength behind the blow was enough to break the guard. Yang however spun with the momentum and was able to bring her left arm up for a counter strike only for two poleaxes to strike.

The first poleaxe struck her forearm pushing it down causing the shell to fire into the ground while she could feel the painful jab in her back as another shoved her forward.

As the Housecarl in front of her back stepped, their poleaxe came down on her Yang rolled forward coming inside their guard then leapt up slamming a fist into their armored abdomen.

As the Housecarl reeled back from the blow the one to her right swung horizontally at her but Yang made to block the blow with her right arm. Instead she ducked it then slammed her fist up into the wooden haft shattering it as she spun around in a high kick, her foot smashing into the Housecarl's helm.

Yet it wasn't enough as the other three closed in on her, Yang turned aside the first thrust but the other two had split to either side aiming high and low. She tried to avoid both strikes while exchanging shells in either direction but the first Housecarl hooked her ankle with the head of their poleaxe.

As she felt the force she didn't resist but instead dove forward hoping to either break the poleaxe in half or get another good hit in. However the Housecarl changed weapons, releasing the poleaxe the Housecarl pulled their arming sword out striking Yang in the face with the pommel due to the close proximity then followed up with a diagonal slash that she blocked with her arm.

Diving to the side Yang could see the Housecarls forming up around her again and knew it was starting to look bad so she jumped using Ember Celica to help propel her up before twisting as she fired off more rounds that sent her out of reach.

Looking back at them she could see that it had only bought her a few seconds as the Housecarls were keeping pace with her as she went downhill. She knew that no matter what she did they would try to surround her and would keep it that way.

As Yang landed back on the ground three Housecarls attacked at the same time. Ducking the first poleaxe she quickly turned aside the second's thrust before breaking the haft just under the langets before turning around to get hit in the chest by the third one.

The blow sent her reeling back but she rolled with it then came to her feet as another Housecarl descended on her. Yang let the anger and excitement of the fight boil over as she clapped her hands together overhead catching the arming sword inches before it hit her head.

She could see the glow that covered her in the armor of the Housecarl as the strain of holding the Housecarl back lessened as new strength flooded through her limbs.

A smile grew on her face; she knew the ball was in her court now as she twisted her hands to the side forcing the sword to intercept another poleaxe. The force of the blow behind the poleaxe and her strength in holding the other Housecarl's sword in place snapped the poleaxe in two.

The moment the weapon broke Yang reacted first by kicking the first Housecarl in the chest sending them back into the hillside leaving a deep gouge where they hit the ground.

Quickly turning to the second as they drew their sword Yang ducked the first sweep then sidestepped the diagonal follow up before slamming her fist in their chest leaving a sizable dent in it. The Housecarl stumbled back before slumping to one knee Yang sent a kick that sent the Housecarl limp to the floor.

She didn't see that though as she had already turned around in time to see the third Housecarl get knocked aside by a block of ice the size of Yang's leg.

Weiss flew into view swinging Myrtenaster, a wave of fire spewed out that distracted the fourth Housecarl before stabbing the ground summoning a row of Glyphs as the last Housecarl nearly struck her with their sword.

The blow never landed however as the Glyphs slung them downhill with enough force that it sent them crashing through a tree.

Yang dashed forward with her fists raised moving to the fourth Housecarl as the third got back up to engage Weiss who nimbly kept out of reach with her Glyph work. Yang tensed herself as the Housecarl sent a diagonal swing but ducked the blow before smashing their hands aside then pumped two Dust shells into the Housecarl's chest before slamming her fist into their helmed head.

The Housecarl flew several feet back onto the ground and was motionless. Yang released a deep breath as Weiss jogging towards her; the Housecarl she had fought was on the ground with the rapidly disappearing chunks of ice that indicated how the fight went.

Further up the hill Ruby and Blake were still circling the last Housecarl who dodged or parried their blows with obvious effort.

Without needing any prompt they moved towards them and soon enough the Housecarl was surrounded.

"Give up!" Ruby called out as they circled the Housecarl who turned slowly watching them. Further up the hill the other teams appeared and Weiss noted that of the eight that should have been there only five remained.

"Yea! It's over!" Yang called out and the Housecarl stood up straight lowering their sword out of guard as the others joined team RWBY.

"You're right, it is over." A feminine voice called out before lifting her sword to point uphill. For some reason they all looked but saw nothing that is until the shrill ring of an alarm began to sound.

After a few moments Alexander appeared and Yang realized that the initial smoke barrage and the Housecarls had actually been a double distraction for him to get into the base. More smoke shells began to rain down popping loudly as they struck around the hill, leaving behind more and more smoke that started to hamper their visibility.

"Shit, they're getting back up." Someone called out and Yang turned to see that four of the Housecarls were on their feet again with swords in hand.

As Yang moved to position them in her vision as the others she felt the renewed strength from before starting to wane as the female Housecarl ducked under a swipe from Ruby then made her way back to the other four.

What could easily be seen as the final act of this fight was now under way. The remaining members of team MDNT and TMBR faced down the five Housecarls as team RWBY looked up at Alexander.

"We're running out of time, keep the Housecarls off us. We'll go after the device." Ruby called out to Tara who stood next to her as Ruby readied Crescent Rose.

"You really want to take him on?" Weiss asked.

"Come on he's only one guy." Yang said with more confidence than she felt.

"Let's go!" Ruby said as she fired a trio of shots up hill at the figure of Alexander. The four of them spread out as they moved uphill, behind them the sound of fighting immediately resumed as the Housecarls clashed with the other two teams.

Yang squinted as the figure of Alexander became more obscure in the smoke just as Ruby reached him. With a yell Ruby swung Crescent Rose at him but instead of blocking the blow Alexander seemed to disappearing as the giant scythe cut through empty air.

Ruby looked around her but the fresh smoke made it difficult to see anything. However something grabbed her ankle and before she could slam Crescent Rose down on it her leg was pulled out from under her.

As she lost her balance something struck her in the stomach with enough strength to force air out of her lungs before sending her rolling downhill.

Blake who was right behind her caught her as Weiss and Yang approached from the sides. Something flew up into the air, Weiss and Yang both attack. Weiss sending a wave of fire that smoke curling away while Yang pumped half a dozen shells.

"It's a decoy!" Weiss called out as she realized it was a sandbag, Alexander however was in front of Blake and Ruby.

Blake shoved Ruby aside to get her clear of the massive blade as she moved to meet her however she feinted left using her semblance to try and strike Alexander from the side however the large man pivoted with astonishing speed.

He pulled in his sword, using his crossguard to hook on her strike before pushing it aside with ease. Blake moved with the force and rolled before coming to her feet firing six times before dashing left then jumping right with her semblance bringing Gambol Shroud down in an overhead strike.

However Alexander's blade was already in motion intercepting the blow, he pushed back using both his size and strength to force Blake to her knees.

Blake watched as he cocked his left arm back for a backhanded blow, she backed off with her semblance again however Alexander was already stepping forward with a forward thrust that caught her in the stomach.

The sword tip hit her stomach that Blake explosively exhaled at the painful blow before rolling backwards on the ground gripping her stomach.

Yang came in through the smoke behind him firing off two shells into his back before Alexander crouched low swinging his sword with his left hand. Yang fired down using the force to help propel her up and over the blow hoping to get a clear shot at him.

Instead she was greeted by the sight of a massive gauntlet reaching for her face, the cold points of metal fingers pressing hard against her cheeks and forehead. She heard a grunt of effort from Alexander before he slammed her into the ground with enough force that it gave a noticeable shift around her.

Above them Weiss had gained height with her Glyphs as Ruby, Blake and Yang continued to engage the High Lord.

The larger man's swordsmanship alone made Jaune look like a newborn child as he expertly parried Ruby while being quick enough to avoid Yang's strike before counter striking with vicious blows of his own while having keen enough insight to guess where Blake would go using her semblance.

Weiss realized that she had no desire to actually fight the High Lord but even more pressing was the fact that she knew that he was stalling for time. He had activated the device before appearing which meant they had a time limit.

So she made her way to the tower as Alexander parried another blow from Ruby before ducking into a low cut to intercept Blake. However she disappeared again with her semblance bouncing first left then right before coming from above.

Twisting aside he let the slim blade pass by before grabbing her leg then spinning around to slam her against Yang as the blonde brawler came in from behind. The two girls were knocked aside as he saw Ruby's weapon come in from the corner of his eye.

Raising his blade he angled it in a high guard letting her oversized weapon slid off however she spun it around quickly trying to strike his leg but he slashed down with his sword as he stepped left blocking the blow.

As he guarded against blow after blow he had to admit the girl wasn't half bad but as he deflected a high blow he pushed inward. While Ruby's handling of her weapon was impressive along with her speed that was about it.

Inside her guard he reached out with a free hand to grab her right arm as he forced her weapon down before sticking his sword into the ground at an angle to stall her long enough to close his right fist then punch her face twice

The second blow left the girl visible dazed as her Aura simmered then failed. Not having time for etiquette he tossed her into the trench a dozen feet away. Yang screamed in rage behind him and he knew he didn't have time to get his sword as the blond girl was already coming for him.

She launched herself at him, Alexander waited until the girl was in reach before twisting to the side avoiding her blow just as he slammed his fingertips into her throat with a bone crunching force. Yang crumpled to the ground grasping her neck, leaning over he grabbed her arm before pulling her up then then slammed a fist into her solar plexus breaking her Aura.

Behind him, Blake charged again but Alexander spun around with Yang still in hand using her to slam against Blake sending the Faunus to the ground with Yang who was finding it hard to breathe properly.

As the two girls rolled down the hill, Alexander realized that there was someone yet to attack as he looked around he couldn't see Weiss and realized she must have gone past him. Grabbing his sword he leapt over the trench and ran towards the tower.

Bracing himself he slammed through the doors to see the hatch open so he jumped down. At the end of the corridor bathed in the red glow of warning lights was Weiss, the white hair girl spun around to see him.

Not waiting a second Alexander sprinted towards her. Fear gripped Weiss as she quickly brought up an ice wall to stop him but Alexander threw his sword as she did and Weiss could see that it had succeeded in trapping the sword part way down the blade before it could hit her.

Alexander was next to it a moment later and gripped it with his right hand before pulling his left back then slamming his fist into the ice. At first nothing seemed to happen but after the sixth blow spider cracks began to form and grow with each subsequent blow.

Weiss could feel sweat start to bead her forehead as she spun around looking for instructions on the device.

The device in question was the size of a shoebox with a digital clock on top showing that there was about two minutes left. However she found that there were three buttons on the other side of it, stepping around it she could see three unmarked buttons on it, she reasoned that one of them had to be the right one.

The ice began to fall away in chunks as Alexander pulled his sword free then began strike the wall with it. She quickly looked back and forth with no idea what she was doing. She reached out to click a button but she stopped as she wasn't sure, glancing to the screen she could see that less than a minute remained.

She snapped her head up as the ice wall finally broke and in her panic as Alexander's sword soared for her she pressed a button with her eyes closed.

Yet nothing happened and she opened her eyes slowly. A green light was shining up from the device; she had somehow pressed the correct button to disarm the device.

More importantly though was the fact Alexander's blade was less than a foot from her. The tall ruler stood up straighter but Weiss could see that he still had to hunch his back in the room.

"Well Weiss Schnee, you did well in summoning that wall and figuring out how to defuse the device. Congratulations." The Lord of Arcadia said and Weiss sputtered before finally bowing.

"Thank you High Lord." She said and a part of her realized how dumb this had been. Yet as she looked down at her hands to see them shaking as the tension fled leaving her feeling exhausted, she still had to concede that the stress she felt was genuine.

* * *

 **Later…**

Jaune was still sitting in the Combat classroom after the end of the day's classes. The win had been attributed to the defending team but no one that watched could say that it was a clean victory.

As the moment Weiss had deactivated the device there only were four of them left to fight altogether. The three that had remained on the surface were Blake, Tara and someone called Berry Nix from team MDNT who would have to face not only Alexander but four Housecarls who were still on their feet.

On top of that there were also a number of injuries which led to a big fuss between the Beacon staff and the Arcadians.

Yang had a nasty looking bruise that covered her throat and collar bone. While Ruby had a long but shallow cut on her arm after getting tossed into the trench, Blake was mostly fine along with Weiss.

The Housecarls however had come out with the more serious injuries; three of them had multiple rib and bone fractures while a fourth also had a cracked jaw.

However before Doctor Dillinger could treat any of them, Zophiel and Areto had interceded stating that they'll be tended by their own staff.

If it hadn't been for Headmaster Ozpin, then Professor Goodwitch and even General Ironwood would have gotten into an open argument with his father in front of the collective student body.

"Deep in thought huh?" A voice called out and Jaune looked up to see Pyrrha coming into view.

"Oh, what are you doing here Pyrrha?" Jaune replied as he stood up.

"Ah well, my partner disappears and misses dinner without a reason why. That tends to occupy my mind."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, I bet you were thinking about today's match and I can't say I don't understand. It was an interesting fight."

"That's one way of putting it." Jaune said as the two of them climbed the steps.

"I mean, watching the Housecarls fight was amazing, the teamwork and skill they showed was astounding that I think if Yang hadn't used her semblance than the result might have been different."

"Nah, I wouldn't say that. Yang's a competent fighter and strong to the point that their equipment wasn't going to hold up for much longer." Jaune pointed out and Pyrrha nodded.

"But still, the fact that none of them had Aura and were able to not only hold their own but be in the position to win is something not to be discounted."

"Nor would I disagree, had Areto and the others have their regular equipment then I think Yang would lose."

"And let's not forget about your father, I'm confident that nine out of ten times he probably could have single handedly taken the entire defending team and won. It felt like every move he made was with the knowledge of what the person was going to do ten seconds before they decided to do it."

"I'm glad to have your approval." A voice called out and the two of them looked up to see Alexander Arc standing in the doorway.

"Good evening Lord Arc." Pyrrha said as she bowed at the waist.

"No need to bow Miss Nikos." He said.

"Is there something I can help you with father?" Jaune asked.

"Not particularly, I merely came here to inform you that Talbek is here."

"He is? I thought he would head north?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Areto mentioned that the Northern Line is still from being at a hundred percent and with you here I thought you'd have him leading the Legion elements with or without Vidus there." Jaune said and Pyrrha had no idea what he was going on about but listened attentively nonetheless.

"Grenes Vare and Zugal Khan are in command of the Legion and Sisterhood elements still stationed there." A new voice called out as they stepped into the hall, the three of them turned to see a new figure approach.

Pyrrha saw a pretty woman with an oval face, high cheek bones; intelligent green eyes that seemed to shine though she wore a rather odd outfit. However Jaune and Alexander recognized it as the outfit of a Sister in her free time.

She wore a red and white habit with the Arc crest stitched around the ten pointed Sacred Rose of the Sisterhood on the white scapular over the white tunic.

On her head was a white wimple with a red collar and veil that was also white save for the inside that was red. In addition to that she had a beaded chain that held the Sacred Flower dangling from her waist.

Strange enough while Pyrrha could see that she was focused on Alexander she couldn't help but get the impression that she was being watched as well. Jaune recognized her however from the times she visited when he was younger.

Sanian Arc, the Champion of the Sisterhood and contender to the position of Champion of Arcadia. He had known her for most of his life and knew that while she cared his family she never really seemed to stick around like Lilith or Talbek whenever she had visited them in Avalon.

His mother had once explained that she held a burden that meant she could never shirk from her duty despite knowing it would never allow her true peace. Knowing what he knew now, he felt an ache in his chest at what it might be.

"Jaune it's so good to see you again." Sanian said as she embraced him.

"It's good to see you as well Aunt Sanian." He said as she held him at arm's length inspecting him.

"My you've grown into such a handsome young man since the last time I saw you."

"I'll take my leave then for now, Sanian we can talk afterwards." Alexander said and Sanian bowed her head slightly as the larger man walked off.

"So Jaune will you introduce me to your friend here?" Sanian asked.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos, my partner here at Beacon." Jaune said as Pyrrha stepped forward to extend a hand out.

"Hi Miss Arc, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure Miss Nikos and please call me Sanian."

"In that case you may call me Pyrrha."

"Wait a second, you must be this famous girl that people speak of, what's the name the Invincible Girl was it?" She asked but Pyrrha shook her head.

"A nickname the media back in my home Kingdom had come up for me but I can assure you that there are times in which I'm far from invincible. For instance Lord Arc made sure that nickname is false." Pyrrha said and Sanian smiled as she cocked her head back.

"I believe I know what you're talking about, when I was younger and training with the other Sisterhood aspirants. Sister Superior Hulda would have each day start and end with me getting pitted against five other Aspirants."

"Really? That sounds like it would do more harm than good."

"Oh don't get me wrong it didn't go very well for me at the start but given a few weeks I was beating them three out of four times." Sanian said as the three of the started walking down the hallway, Jaune stayed silent a few feet back watching Pyrrha converse with Sanian.

It gladdened him to see her so willingly talk to someone else. When they had first met Pyrrha seemed to only ever want to speak when he was active in the conversation as well or with their select group of friends.

Though that didn't mean she wouldn't speak to strangers or in class, it was more in the sense she never seemed comfortable talking in casual circles.

"Oh, yea I almost forgot Jaune, your mother asked me to tell you to call her as soon as you can. She said she had some news to share with you." Sanian said as she turned to look at him and Jaune felt a little nervous at her gaze but nodded.

"I'll ask my father if he can set up a call for me tomorrow." Jaune said but Sanian gave him a rather stiff smile.

"Jaune please, Arabella misses you oh so dearly and it would be uncouth for a son to keep her mother waiting." Sanian said and Jaune relented as he gave a soft sigh.

"Fine, I'll go now." He said before looking at Pyrrha.

"I'll see you back at the dorms Pyrrha." He said and for some reason his hand came up to touch her arm but he stopped before awkwardly backing away for a few dozen feet before turning a corner to disappear out of sight.

"So, now that he's gone. We can have some girl talk." Sanian said as she removed veil and pulled her wimple back revealing short blonde hair tied into a bun.

"How many Arcs have blonde hair?" Pyrrha asked and Sanian smiled.

"Almost all of them but I must confess I'm not related to them by blood, in fact anyone outside the immediate family isn't a real Arc but someone given the privilege of having that name." Pyrrha blinked at that before nodding as Sanian elbowed her lightly with a coy smile.

"Don't worry, one day you'll have that name as well." She said and Pyrrha felt her face flush.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Please Pyrrha; it's so obvious that you like him."

"Like who?"

"Come on, I won't tell him anything besides he's like his father in regards to romance." Sanian said and Pyrrha felt her shoulders sag.

"That was a joke." Sanian said laughing.

"Alexander is actually a very observant person when it comes to romancing Arabella, Jaune's mother, Jaune however is sort of, well, dense."

"Actually Sanian, I was wondering what you can tell me about Jaune's family. He's told us snippets of his life and I believe his father is much different in a homely environment than he is here despite the fact he hasn't exactly given us a great deal of good stories in that regard in either case." Pyrrha asked and Sanian smiled as the two of them walked outside as evening continued to roll through.

* * *

 **Later that Night…**

Cinder watched with a certain level of admiration as her allies silently executed the various security staff and night shift workers. Mercury and Emerald however seemed less at ease at the sight before them.

"Poor bastards." Emerald whispered as she watched two, men; hold a dock worker down before a third who had his hand over the worker's mouth inserted a long dagger into his neck.

"I don't get what we're doing here Cinder, this seems like grunt work that Roman or Neo should be doing." Mercury said turning to look at her but averted his gaze as Cinder glanced at him.

"Mercury please, this isn't to oversee their work but merely greet them. We just happened to come upon them as they were getting their hands on some, new clothes." Cinder explained watching as the same man that had stuck his dagger into the dock worker turned the body over before hauling the head and neck over the edge of a plastic bin letting the blood seep out. Even she had to admit her new allies were a bit unnerving even after the assurances from Salem that they were loyal to the cause.

"Heads up." Emerald whispered and Cinder turned to see three men ascend the metal stairs to them. The lead figure was a tall man, broad in shoulder with a scarred face that was covered by a silver half mask of a leering face that made him look at odds with the dark blue overalls of a dock worker.

Though Cinder noted that while the other two behind him wore the same dock outfits albeit with black masks, they also wore heavy looking armored vests with ammunition pouches, grenades, belted looped holsters complete with handguns of some kind along with long daggers placed on the same belt or tucked behind their back.

One of them also carried two odd looking rifles in his scarred hands that seemed to be made from cheap looking metal and wood while the other held onto the lead man's gear.

"I take it you're the one she told us to meet." The lead man said with a surprisingly pleasant voice once more at odds with his appearance.

"That I am, may I get your name?" Cinder asked and the man snapped a crisp salute.

"Damogaur Ara'sax, these are two of my High Sirdars, Urkrabar and Abakai." The man said and the other two bowed their heads.

"Well Ara'sax, do you understand your mission? Vale is different than the Arcadians whom you fought in the north; my lieutenants here will gladly provide any assistance in learning about them." The scarred man nodded.

"Fret not Madam, we're well aware that these Valeans are different than what we're used to but we've already been here for a month and have learned a few things. Not as much as I would like but as you may know we must work on another's timetable. Even then we've already established ourselves at eight points with six of them being used as locations in the lower quarters of the residential quarters to preach to the, less fortunate, on the gifts that we bring though I must admit it seems faith is not in abundant supply here. But I must say that the last two are positioned out to the east on the out skirts and they're not happy about being told to wait."

"What are you talking about?" Mercury interrupted and Emerald could see something move behind Ara'sax's eyes. It was then that she realized that there was something wrong about them, the way he looked at them wasn't normal.

"It doesn't matter, the point being my men know what they're doing and will be ready when you are." Ara'sax said looking back at Cinder.

"That's good though there are a few snags." Cinder said and Ara'sax nodded knowingly.

"Yes the Arcadians and Atlas."

"Not Atlas, I have something a few cards up my sleeve to hamstring them. Your people however will need to bear the burden of having to divide the Arcadia's attention until the number of Grimm builds up to a sufficient strength to challenge their own."

"Fair enough." He said and began to turn away to talk softly to the other two, both of them nodded before handing over his gear. Cinder looked down once more as the steady stream of boxes that had been carried out of the warehouse trickled to nothing.

A few of the Ara'sax men began to douse the warehouse interior with oil. While others threw aside the dead bodies and began to dip their hands or cups into the bins of blood or took off the heads of the dead before putting them in bags or on hooks.

"I thought Adam was fucking crazy but this makes him look like normal." Mercury said.

"Why are they doing this?" Emerald asked disgust evident in her voice but Cinder said nothing as Ara'sax laughed.

"What's so funny?" Emerald asked and the man gleefully voiced words that the three of them had never heard before.

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne."

* * *

 **What they don't know is that the full "canonical" saying is actually, Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Milk for the Khorne Flakes! but I guess that last part would just serve to confuse them and confusion is reserved for that tentacle faced freak Tzeentch or the drug addled Slaanesh who refers to a different kind of milk if you get my meaning.**

 **I don't have much else to say other than that I hope to have the next chapter out before classes resume after this week but let's be real, I fucking type like a snail sometimes.**

 **Anyways, let me know of what you think of the chapter in the review section or send me a PM if ya'll wanna like berate me or something either on the story content or the consistency of me putting out chapters.**

 **Till Next Time!**


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